The Claiming of Sasha [Panther Cove 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“Come on.” Sasha headed in.

The old man had already set out four glasses on the coffee table in front of a brown leather sofa and was filling them with scotch. Trace couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of trap. If he knew it wouldn’t kill his brother, he would have asked Sasha to take them back to town right now.

“Sit, sit. I don’t bite.” He handed Danny a glass then passed the tray to Trace.

Danny sat and sipped on the scotch. “Can you shift?”

Christ. Now wasn’t the time for his brother to disengage his
subtle
button.

Gordon chuckled. “I’m afraid to. My legs don’t work in human form, so I doubt they’d carry me far in panther form.”

His brother twirled the glass in his hand. “Are you really four hundred?”

Yeesh
. His brother would get them booted before he got any answers. Trace sipped the golden drink and realized this was the really good stuff.

“Yes. What else do you want to know?”

“Why isn’t everyone attacking us right now, if panthers hate tiger shifters?”

Gordon leaned back and smiled.

“Maybe I should tell them.” Sasha faced them. “Normally, when I’m in the presence of tiger shifters, I get a really bad vibe. Hell, my blood boils. But when you two walked in my store, I knew you were different.”

“Boys, what she’s trying to say is that she finds you attractive.”

She slid down her seat. “Granddad, just shut up a minute, okay?” She turned back to them. “I realized that something funny was going on with you two, so I asked my grandfather why I reacted the way I had. He said your mom was probably a panther.”

“Seriously?” Trace wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was bad enough to know he was only half of a human. Now she was telling him he was a hybrid of a hybrid?

“Yes. You could get your blood tested if you want to be sure. We have a shifter doctor in Panther Cove who could do it for you.”

He held up a hand. “I’m good.” Knowing he was a mixed breed wasn’t something he wanted authenticated. In fact, he didn’t need to learn anything else.

Danny polished off his glass, and Gordon poured him another. “Sasha, as well as Mr. Desnor, mentioned something called The Sword. What can you tell me about it?”

When he mentioned the name
Desnor
, Gordon had tensed. “He’s a total evil man. When you’ve been around as long as those in Panther Cove have, you see how the human race is heading for extinction. We want to stop that.”

Even Trace was interested with this turn of events. “How?”

“We’ve headed up a lot of philanthropic organizations to help educate people about our fragile environment. Sure, we help out at soup kitchens and donate to the homeless shelters, but we are more into research to develop sustainability.”

“There are a lot of groups around the world who do this.”

“Yes, and many are panther shifters.”

Holy shit
. He had no idea the shifter world was so pervasive. He wasn’t sure if he was delighted or scared. “And the Swordsmen?”

“The Sword wants to bring destruction to the world. You might think the Taliban and other terrorist groups are led by humans, but many are not.”

His gut soured. “Why would anyone want to destroy the world?”

“Because the sooner the earth destroys itself, the sooner the tigers can take over the world.”

For the next hour, Gordon regaled them with the history of the two powers and how Panther Cove became the central command for all panthers. Their whole mission was to stop the terrorist attacks.

“So you are all some kind of black ops guys?”

The old man smiled. “You could say that. Our men are the best trained in the world.”

Danny had been relatively quiet until now. “Can we meet some of these men?”

If his brother had been within kicking reach, he would have nudged him.

“I don’t see why not. Sasha can show you the training center.”

While he didn’t hear her groan, from the way her chest caved, she wasn’t all that excited. “Sure.” She stood.

“Give me a minute with the men, will you?” Her grandfather lasered her with a stare that implied his request was a command.

She lowered her gaze. “I’ll wait outside.”

The dominant part in him surfaced. The subservient way she lowered her head got his cock hard.

He returned his attention back to Gordon. Trace wasn’t sure he liked that the old man wanted to discuss something without Sasha being here. It had been bad enough when Basel Desnor tried to get them to meet with that Gastron guy, but now they were going to be grilled by this old dude. He’d hear what he had to say and then ask Sasha to take them back, just as soon as Danny got a view of the gym.

“Tell me what happened when you first saw my granddaughter.”

That was not the question he expected. He tried hard to come up with a lie but couldn’t. “My claws started to elongate without any prompting from me.”

“Has that ever happened before?”

“No.”

Gordon faced Danny. “And you, young man?” There was no malice in his tone, only interest.

“I’d rather not say.”

The old man dropped back his head and let out a belly laugh. “That bad, huh?”

“Sir?”

“First, let me say I’m sorry that you never got to meet your parents. I’m sure they were remarkable people. It takes guts to mate with another species.”

Danny glanced at him first. “Well, sir, we knew nothing about our biological folks. We assumed our mom was a plain old human or a tiger shifter herself.”

“She wasn’t. I can tell.” He picked up his drink and downed half. “Let me tell you about the facts of life for shifters.” He described how the urge to shift would be too strong to deny when they met the woman destined to be their mate and that nothing could change the outcome.

Trace didn’t like any of it. “So what you’re saying is that your granddaughter is our mate?” He’d certainly experienced the part about the strong urge to shift.

“Yes. I’m glad to see you understand.”

“Not that I don’t find her amazingly attractive, but for starters we live in Texas.”

Gordon waved his glass. “You’ll have to choose between moving here or being single all your life.” He drank some more. “Realize that this is Sasha’s one chance, too.”

Trace didn’t like the man’s approach or the guilt he was trying to lay on him. “That’s bullshit.” He stood and shot a hard glare at his brother. “Ready?”

“Gentlemen. Don’t be so hasty. At least enjoy what we have to offer. I have the finest horses in the state. Go for a ride. Panther Cove extends for over a thousand acres, and the views are magnificent, though it’s been a long time since I’ve been out and about.”

Danny jumped up. “Thank you, sir.” He held out his hand, and the old man shook it.

As they got to the door, it opened automatically. The whir of the scooter sounded behind him, and Trace and Danny stepped to the side to let Gordon exit first. The broad smile he received confused him, but right now he wanted to get back to his safe, little life. Unfortunately, he’d never hear the end of it if he insisted they go straight to the airport and hop on the first plane back to Texas.

Boy, am I fucked.

Sasha was sitting in the hallway about fifty feet away. When she spotted them, she rose and came toward them. “Did granddad try to recruit you?”

That’s what he’d expected. “No.”

“Really? He’d spoken at one time about wanting to see if you two would be willing to be spies. What did you talk about?”

This was getting way out of control. He knew they needed to nip this whole shifter stuff in the bud. There was no way he wanted to discuss how his cock was ready to bust for wanting her. Right now, Danny needed the satisfaction of seeing these supermen in action. If he didn’t there was no telling what he might ask to do. “Gordon suggested you show us a training facility. Remember?”

The little upturn on her lips sent another blast of lust through him.
She knows what Gordon discussed. Damn
.

“Yes. Come this way.” Was she actually flirting? Where was the submissive, downward gaze she’d shown before?
Uh-oh
. Did Sasha believe they were meant to be mates? Not that he gave credence to that stuff, but she might.

Danny slid to her other side and placed a hand on her back. It took all of his control not to groan.

It was chilly outside, but the air helped refresh his thoughts. As they got closer to the large building in the middle of the complex, he could detect a whiff of the horses. To be honest, he would like to see if the animals were as fine as Gordon claimed.

At a large building, Sasha tapped a metal plate and the door swung inward. He wasn’t surprised the compound was wheelchair accessible for Gordon. Inside, clashing blades caught his attention, as did the clang of metal. He counted six men inside. Two were fencing without any armor. If the panther shifters were anything like the tiger shifters, they would heal fast if injured. At the weight area, there were two huge men training two more beefy dudes. He had to say their strength was amazing. Sure, shifters were by nature fast and strong, but he had no idea they could easily lift such weight.

“Aha!” shouted one of the fencers. His blade sliced up his opponent’s shirt, and the well-muscled man stepped back.

“This is ridiculous.” He lifted his torn shirt. “I’m going shirtless next time.”

Sasha chuckled. “The one with his hair tied back is Derek Black. He and his brother, Hunter, have taken over the running of the place from my grandfather. Derek always loses, but only to Hunter. They are both formidable against any other opponent.”

Hunter glanced over and nodded. Trace would have thought the man would have felt threatened having two tigers in their midst. “Why isn’t he upset that we’re here?” She smiled, and once more his body reacted. This time, instead of his claws poking out, his bones cracked as if he was about to shift. “Shit.”

Sasha clasped his arm. “You okay?”

As gently as he could, he removed his arm from her clasp “Yes.” He looked back at the men, hoping that if he wasn’t watching her, his body would behave. “Now why isn’t he trying to claw out my throat?”

“Granddad told him about you.”

Impressive
. So panther shifters could communicate telepathically even when in human form. He wished he and Danny could.

She leaned in close. “Since you breed and break horses, do you want to see ours?”

The chance to view quality flesh overrode all objections to staying. “Sure.”

Danny, too, seemed excited to check out the horses. His brother held open the door for her, but he could have pressed the metal plate to do it automatically. Sasha looked up and smiled, and Trace’s cock hardened.

This was going to be a long day.

This wasn’t good. Sasha’s damned pussy acted up every time she got near the men. She would have thought that after one hundred years she would have learned a little self-control. She should just show the men the horses then say she needed to get back home. They’d believe her since it was getting close to dinner anyway.

Somehow the excuse wouldn’t form. The urge to study them some more took over.
Study, hell. I want to touch them just to see what their skin feels like under my fingers.

Instead of her having to lead them to the barn, she followed, as these two seemed to smell their way to the horses. As soon as Trace and Danny stepped inside, their shoulders relaxed and the tension in their faces disappeared.

They both seemed to identify with one of the horses and eased over to their choice. Trace picked Knightsbridge, a seventeen-hands high, black Friesian stallion, while Danny picked Scotsman’s Pride, a beautiful Paint.

“Hey, big boy.” Trace stroked the horse’s muzzle and the purebred quieted.

Sasha stepped behind Trace. “He’s a little wild, so be careful. He bites, too.” Often the horses weren’t ridden, which was a shame, and they got testy being cooped up.

Her horse, Sandblaster, whinnied. Now she wished she’d brought an apple to give her.

Trace faced her, his eyes glistening. “Can we take them out for ride?”

She wanted to say there wasn’t time. However, right now getting in a good run would be wonderful. It might get rid of some of the hormones racing through her veins. “Sure.”

From the way Danny was softly talking to his horse, he was as excited to get in a ride as she was. After showing them the tack room, they saddled all three horses and were ready to go in no time. Given her grandfather had suggested they come here, she figured she would make him happy and exercise the horses at the same time. She was quite an expert and hoped these two really were as good as they implied.

She’d gone riding once with the two new recruits, William and Thad, and she had to take it slow. Even though they claimed they could ride, some people had no idea how to handle a powerful animal despite being one themselves.

As they trotted into the open, she had to admit, both men looked more comfortable on a horse than on the ground. There was something about a man who cared about animals and knew how to ride that appealed to her. If she thought that these two might be members of The Sword, after seeing the care they took when saddling the horses, she no longer worried.