Seduction's Shift (8 page)

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Later, as the fire Lucas had built began to die down and they’d eaten the energy bars that they’d brought, the shifters all found a spot in the cave that suited them and settled in. Ary knew instinctively what would happen next.

“Did Sabar tell you why he kidnapped you?” Rome asked.

Throughout the time she’d been with them, Ary had noticed how in love with his mate the Faction Leader was, and vice versa. They would die for each other—there was no doubt about that. The knowledge stuck in Ary’s chest like a lump of coal. There was also loyalty here, and dedication. The stateside shifters were a unit, one that would be hard to break apart if anyone dared to try. They had joint causes and similar ways of dealing with those causes. Then there was Nick.

She’d avoided eye contact with him as much as she could, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. No, quite the contrary, the more she ignored him, the more intense his presence became, pushing quickly against her personal limits.

“My father knows what Sabar wanted,” she said to Rome with a glance to where her father had found a spot in a corner by himself. She still hadn’t found the words to say to him. There seemed to be none. He’d betrayed her. She knew that now and was afraid to ask just how far his betrayal had gone.

All eyes turned to Davi, who cowered closer to the wall where he sat. “It is over. All over,” he mumbled.

“What is over, Mr. Serino?” Rome asked him.

Davi shook his head, his watery eyes finding Ary. She refused to feel anything. He was her father, yes, but he could be a cruel and evil man. Her mother usually took the brunt of his negative energy, which made Ary hate it all the more. For years she’d begged her mother to stand up for herself, to tell Davi to go to hell or something of that nature. But Sheena Serino was not that type of woman. She said it was her duty to honor her mate; that’s what a female did when she was mated. That statement alone had convinced Ary: She’d never mate with anyone if she was expected to act like a simpering idiot.

“You knew he was going to take me all along,” she said, not necessarily to Davi, but to the group at large. “You know what he wants.” Then she licked her lips, which had suddenly gone dry. “You know what he wanted with the damiana.”

“Damiana?” Nick asked. He was the first to get up and stand near Davi. “What’s that?”

“Veneno,”
Lucas whispered.

Davi sobbed, his head falling down to his chest. Nick grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him up off the ground. “Who was he poisoning?”

Ary stood, because the sight of Nick being so rough with Davi didn’t make her feel as good as it should have. “Sabar’s men gave me some sort of mixture. I recognized the taste, but it was too late. Sabar seemed to be upset with my reaction to the mixture, but I don’t know why.”

“And you think your father knows?” Kalina asked.

Ary could only nod; saying it aloud sounded pathetic.

“Talk, Serino!” Nick ordered.

“You will let him speak to me this way? You are the leader here. He should show me some respect,” Davi said to Rome, who simply shrugged.

“I get the feeling you know more than you’re telling us. If his tactics get you to talk, then so be it.”

With that Nick slammed the man’s back to the wall and stared down at him. “You can talk on your own or I’ll beat it out of you. The choice is yours.”

“It was to help us. You … you,” Davi stuttered, his eyes moving quickly from Nick to Rome then to X and back to Nick. “You stay in the city with the humanfolk and forget about us here. We cannot live on the peanuts you send.”

Rome looked shocked—then as quickly as that emotion registered, it turned to rage.

“I send thousands a month in cash. Medical and household supplies are sent as well. What are you talking about?”

Davi shook his head adamantly. “It’s not enough.”

“Not when we don’t get everything he sends,” Ary added quietly. It had only been a hunch, one she’d been considering for a few months now. She’d mentioned it before, and Davi had not responded. Now she knew why.

Her father led the healing center, which meant that all of the medical supplies and a good deal of the cash sent through the U.S. accounts came to him to manage and filter throughout the village appropriately. As an only child, Ary worked by his side. She knew how things in the healing center should flow, what supplies they used most and how much was spent on the village necessities each month. But in the last five or six months, those amounts had dwindled significantly.

“You weren’t giving out everything that came in. Or you were sending it elsewhere,” she said, taking a step toward Davi.

“You know not what you speak,” he spat at her. “Your mind is clouded by that poison.”

That solicited a growl from Nick, and he tossed Davi onto the floor. “You had her poisoned, you bastard!”

This was a side of Nick she had never seen. His anger was so real, so raw, and yet she wondered if it were all truly centered on her kidnapping. Just as he took another predatory step toward Davi, she grabbed his arm.

The contact sent bolts of electricity straight through her fingers and up her arm. She jerked back in surprise and glared up into his dark eyes. His cat was awake—wide awake as evidenced by the shift in eye color, from dark brown to an eerie green. Pushing her arms behind her back, she tore her gaze from Nick and looked down at Davi.

“What did you do with the rest of the money and the supplies?” she asked him.

“You will get us killed! Do you not understand? He will kill us all!” Davi whined.

X leaned closer, put his face right in Davi’s, and pointed at Nick. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. But this one here, he’s going to rip your fuckin’ head off if you don’t start talking soon. You might want to consider that the most immediate threat.”

Suddenly the room was filled with so much tension, so much … testosterone, Ary thought she’d choke. Cats lurked ready to strike, while unanswered questions served as fuel to the simmering fire.

“I pay him to leave us alone. Is that such a bad thing?” Davi asked, rolling to his side and coming up on his knees. He coughed and coughed and for a split second Ary thought of going to him. Then she changed her mind.

“You are paying Sabar?”

Davi shook his head. “Every month I bring money to the place where he held you. I leave it there in bags he provides. I do not know how he gets it but he does and it keeps him away.”

“Then why would he suddenly need Ary?” Kalina asked.

She’d been quiet, mostly watching what was going on as if she were an outsider. Ary wished she, too, could pull herself out of this situation, sitting on the side as if she’d just tuned in. She hated that her father was a traitor and that he’d resorted to trading her.

“I will tell you all,” Davi said finally and stood staring at them. “He works with medicines, some kind that he sells in the United States. A while ago he asked if we had something to help him. I said I did not know, that my daughter knew of all the medicines and such. I know because she learned from Yuri. He wants to know what you know, Ary. That is all. You should just tell him.”

“I would never tell him anything!” she raged. “And you are lower than bile for giving your own flesh and blood to a creature such as Sabar!”

X looked at Davi with a sick kind of pity, while Rome shook his head, his contempt bubbling just beneath the surface. Nick’s face showed nothing but rage. It was controlled, as witnessed by the way his fists clenched at his sides and the throb of his temples, but just barely.

Tears stung her eyes and Ary cursed. “Go back to where you came from, Dominick Delgado! We can take care of ourselves here.” She said the words and meant them as grand bravado. Instead they were her breaking point. Ary felt like everything was falling down around her. She turned quickly and ran out of the cave, wishing like hell none of this had ever happened. Especially the part about her touching Nick, and liking it way too much.

Chapter 8

Nick told himself he wouldn’t go after her. He swore he wouldn’t rescue her when she so obviously didn’t want to be rescued again. But she’d been gone more than twenty minutes. Her alone time was up.

He didn’t have to track her, didn’t have to scent the air to know which direction she’d gone. All he did was close his eyes, and the visual of her appeared—just as she had been all those years ago, but better. Nick had seen beautiful women back in the States. He’d had quite a number of them for himself. But none of them compared to Ary.

She had a decidedly sultry look, with pouty lips and a stubborn chin. Thick eyebrows and long eyelashes only made her look more exotic. Wine-colored eyes that shifted to a deep gold when her cat lurked added a touch of mystery. As for her body, Nick shivered remembering the moment when his arm had clasped around her waist. Ary had never been model-thin; she was full of lush curves, heavy breasts and alluring hips. His dick hardened and his pace increased.

He knew where she was—or should he say his cat knew, and he followed accordingly.

The rain had stopped, the forest growing even darker in the twilight hours. Just ahead he heard the rustle of water and breathed a little easier. With his nocturnal vision Nick proceeded until he stood across from a small fall of water. He had to struggle to catch his breath.

She was there, just visible through the thin curtain of water trickling down into the creek. In the same place he’d taken her sixteen years ago.

She was beautiful. The cat was, that is. With seemingly perfect symmetrical rosettes across its golden body, the animal stretched and dipped beneath the streaming water. Its mouth opened wide, tongue licking over viciously sharp teeth. Then it stretched again, this time shifting in a blur of motion and rivulets, until now the woman stood in all her naked glory.

Licking his lips, Nick felt an insane jealousy toward the water that sluiced over every inch of that glorious body without censor. Her back arched, her head held back as the thick mane of hair drank freely of the waterfall. Curved hips flared to voluptuous buttocks. When she turned slightly, the clean-shaven V of her mound appeared and Nick wanted to roar. The craving inside him beat a steady rhythm that finally had him taking a step toward the creek. He removed his clothes slowly, using her movements as a guide.

When she lifted her arms, her breasts rose higher, and her nipples puckered against the cool spray of the water. Nick pulled off his shirt and let his palms run down his torso, over his abs, to the waistband of his pants. She leaned forward, lifting a leg and pushing it sinuously through the curtain of water, rubbing her hands up and down the length. Nick pushed his pants over his muscled thighs and stepped out of them, his palm moving quickly to cup his heated erection, applying some much-needed stroking.

She stood straight again, her arms lifted, and pulled her hair around one shoulder. Nick walked slowly, his feet entering the creek silently. In seconds he was at the waterfall, standing just on the other side, only inches away from Ary.

Her body stiffened and she turned to face him. Through the water she looked like a goddess, droplets resting seductively on her lashes, her lips damp and swollen. He stepped through the spray, feeling the chill of the water against his heated skin but not letting it dissuade him. With one arm he reached out, clasped her at the waist, and pulled her to him. Her head instantly tilted, her mouth opening slightly. And that was all Nick needed.

His lips found hers in a heated touch. His tongue traced those lips and suckled the bottom one as if it were a piece of candy. When she gasped he delved deeper, letting his tongue mingle wildly with hers. She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Nick backed them farther into the cavern, letting his hands run up and down the slickness of her skin. Cupping her buttocks, he sucked in a breath and pressed his erection into her abdomen. She came up on tiptoe until his dick slid sinuously between the folds of her pussy and he wanted to roar.

As he lifted her into his arms, she wrapped her legs around him. He stood there kissing her, his fingers moving between the slit of her buttocks to the heated moisture between. She felt delicious, and he licked at her lips the way he wanted to lick at her pussy. Tossing her head back, Ary arched into the motion of his fingers, riding him with quick strokes. She looked heavenly and Nick dipped his head to run his tongue over one puckered nipple.

Drawing a hand down, she cupped her own breast, squeezing and pushing it farther into his mouth. He gorged on her, sucking and licking until they were both breathless. With his teeth he snagged her nipple, tugging until she whimpered then licking lavishly while his dick rubbed along her heated cove. He wanted in, desperately. His spine tingled with the very thought of slipping inside her, being clamped by her walls, his dick being milked until he sobbed. It was an enticing thought, an arousing thought, and damn if he would allow it to remain only a “thought.”

When they were as far into the cavern as they could get, he laid her down on the wet stone floor. She reached for him, her eyes glazed with arousal. “The last time I came to you because I wanted you,” she said, her chest heaving, lips swollen from his kiss.

He stood over her, his dick jutting forward in invitation, or begging; it didn’t really matter at this point.

“Now I’m here because I want you,” was his reply.

She touched her breasts again and Nick wrapped his fingers around his aching length. Apparently she was no stranger to touching herself, probably pleasuring herself. Fuck, he was going to come right at this moment if he didn’t get a grip on himself. A mental grip this time …

“Show me how much” was her sultry reply.

Propped up on her elbows, she let her knees fall open, baring herself to him totally. She looked like a porn star, all wet and aroused and ready and willing. He felt like the luckiest bastard alive as he took another step toward her and fell to his knees. His face was buried between her legs in record time, his mouth closing hungrily over her pussy, sucking and kissing, loving the smooth texture and sweet taste of her. When she draped one long sleek leg over his shoulder, Nick grabbed hold of her thigh and sank in deeper. His tongue stroked her from her clit to the base of her weeping center, stayed there and speared deep inside her entrance. She bucked and rocked against his mouth and Nick stroked her deeper. In his arms she was alive and as fiery as the look in her eyes when she was angry. Her cat was wanton and reached out to his as if it had been waiting for this precise moment.