The Shifter's Choice (14 page)

Johnny laced his fingers with hers and splayed his other hand on her back before sweeping them into a slow circle.

Magic, she thought, as she moved in time with his steps on the most romantic of all dance floors. So why was her heart jackhammering so loudly that she could barely hear the music? He didn’t draw her closer, just moved with a grace that rippled with sensuality. She was acutely aware of the sway of his hips. The second dance was slower and couples around them seemed to melt into their partner’s embrace, moving in perfect synchronization, obviously relaxed and at ease in each other’s company. Sonia felt awkward and uncertain as she edged closer resting her cheek on his shoulder. She was unwilling to press her body to his mainly because she wanted to so badly. This was a dangerous road, she realized. Her skin tingled and her breasts ached. She knew the signs. Sonia sighed as his cheek brushed the top of her head and closed her eyes. Sonia let the music and John Lam take her deeper into the enchantment of the night.

She wanted Johnny’s body, but in the morning there would be no escaping him because unlike the rest of the men she had slept with, Johnny knew where she lived. He knew other things, too, secret intimate things. Things she never expected another person in this world to know about her. She shivered in excitement as she rocked her hips from side to side, matching his lead, wanting to let him lead.

What was she doing and where would this end?

* * *

Johnny breathed in her fragrance. The tiny capillaries beneath her skin opened wide bringing a beguiling pink flush to her cheeks and the scent of the rose petals that she had carried all the way from the base. Johnny’s sense of smell remained acute and despite his inability or unwillingness to change, he felt the wolf still inside him. It hadn’t disappeared as the doctors feared. It had just gone deep.

How long had he dreamed of this night? How many nights had he imagined holding her in his arms and having her see the man that he had always been instead of that monster that still lurked within?

Now she was here with him but instead of the easy falling together he had dreamed it would be, Sonia revealed a new hesitancy in conversation and a reluctance that troubled him. Why had she never had a second date and what did that mean for them? He knew her name. He knew her secrets. He knew Sonia and he wanted more. Would she be willing to sleep with him knowing that she couldn’t just disappear in the morning?

He scented her arousal but also her fear. Now that he was a man, she no longer trusted him. Or did she just not find him appealing. Didn’t she like his looks?

Every time he moved closer, she stepped back. His hips were a tantalizing inch from hers, her breasts nearly brushed against his chest but she kept just out of reach. It was all he could do not to drag her against him. He didn’t want to frighten her but he’d never wanted a woman more. Not just any woman. He wanted this woman.

Johnny had broken off with his high school steady when he joined up and had only had occasional companionship since then. Now all he could think about was kissing Sonia everywhere and of seeing her lying naked in his bed by candle light and then again in the morning, her long hair tangled in the rumbled bedding. His insides squeezed and the steady thrum of blood beat insistently within him. He wanted this woman.

He glanced down to see her eyes closed as her cheek rested on his chest. Even with her eyes closed, her expression looked pained as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Well, that was exactly what he wanted, but now he worried that Sonia did not imagine this night ending as he did. He glanced around the room, seeing other couples, ladies clinging to their men, pressing hip-to-hip or gazing longingly into each other’s eyes.

Honeymooners, he realized, now recognizing his mistake. He’d taken a woman who was terrified of commitment on their first date and dropped her into the center of a room full of committed couples. How stupid could he get?

She didn’t press herself against him like the other women draped like boneless cats against their new husbands. Sonia wasn’t a bride in the arms of the man she loved. She was a young marine on her first date with a werewolf. It was a wonder she didn’t fly screaming from the room. And then it hit him. She couldn’t. She couldn’t say no to this date any more than she could quit teaching him. She was stuck because she’d robbed a house, so now if she didn’t make him happy, they’d send her back where she came from. Back to jail, back to that damned dog cage.

No wonder she barely touched her dinner.

Suddenly Johnny felt sick. He didn’t want her here against her will. He drew back.

The song ended and the band played a faster number, with steel drums and a Caribbean sound. Sonia looked up at him with eyes that asked for rescue. He felt the same aching need he always felt when she looked at him and then as now he wouldn’t act on it because he’d never know if she wanted to or felt she must. He knew she’d do anything to keep from going back to jail, even, apparently, go out with him.

He hated the idea of taking her upstairs now. Would she look at him as she did on the dance floor as if he were some distasteful obligation to be discharged as quickly as possible? He’d bought her flowers, put on a suit and she’d dressed in red. But it was all a lie.

“Are you all right?” she asked as he held her chair back at their table.

“Yes.” He said it a little too quickly.

“You look as if you are in pain.” Her eyes went wide. “Johnny, you’d know if you were about to change. Wouldn’t you? Because the captain said...”

God, he hadn’t even thought of that. No wonder the captain and the major had been so against his coming out and why she was tense as a newbie at boot camp. Why had they let him go? He had another thought and glanced about the room, finding the bar and three familiar backs perched like crows on a wire. He met the eyes of Carver, Zeno and Kiang in the mirror. Apparently the major hadn’t let him off the leash after all. They’d just made it a little longer. His mood darkened. Had they enjoyed his awkward little dance with Sonia?

Sonia noticed the direction of his gaze and he heard her groan.

His gaze narrowed on the men.

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll just go say hello.”

She clasped his arm and he stopped as suspicion grew.

“Why don’t we just order our dessert?”

He was in a fishbowl. Had anything really changed?

“Did you know?”

She lowered the menu. “They’re here for your protection and to protect all the people here.”

“Did you all think I’d go crazy?”

She lowered the menu. “They can’t know what will happen next any more than you do.”

He knew she was right but the situation now stuck in his throat like an overlarge piece of steak. “I wanted to be alone with you.”

“Then we should have stayed at your place on Molokai.” She reached across the table and rested her hand on his. “Johnny, we’ve had a lovely meal and you are an excellent dancer. Let’s have desert.”

“And then head back?”

“If you’d like.”

Johnny glanced at his three escorts. His bodyguards and the realization that Sonia might not be here by choice made the evening about as romantic as a frontal assault. Johnny ordered an espresso and Sonia had a crème brûlée. She seemed relieved to be escorted back to the dock where the boat he hadn’t called was waiting. Johnny wanted to kick someone’s ass. Instead, he helped Sonia aboard and then handed her the vase of red roses. He felt stupid and betrayed all at once.

Sonia wrapped the shawl over her shoulders and huddled about her flowers protecting them from the wind.

Back on Molokai, he drove her to the barracks and walked her to the entrance.

“John, I know that the evening didn’t go as you would have liked. But I had a lovely time and I want to thank you.”

He stared down at her, his heart so full of hope and despair he could not even summon a single word.

“Please be patient with me. I just need a little time.”

“Time,” he parroted. How much time? Time to do what? He’d had too much damned time—time alone, time as a monster, time with her when she couldn’t see how he felt. Now she wanted more of it. Finally, he nodded because he had no other choice. “All right.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Sure. Come up in the afternoon. You can teach me some more signs.” Like frustrated, sullen and pissed-off, he thought.

She lifted on her toes and tried to kiss him. He turned so her lips met his cheek accepting it for what it was, a mercy kiss.

“Thank you for the flowers.”

He made a fast retreat and headed off base. Behind him he saw the lights of a Jeep which he had no trouble ditching. He ended up in one of the three places he’d heard his groupies mention and just as he’d expected there were single women at the bar, working girls who didn’t care who you were and didn’t expect you to be patient. He looked over the bunch and picked the one who had dark hair and mocha skin. She was native but she had Sonia’s coloring. She smiled an invitation but Johnny recognized the feral glint in her eye, the look of a wolf hunting.

“Hi, handsome,” she said. “You want some company?”

He stood his ground and she slid from the stool and sidled over, swaying her hips as she approached. The moment she brushed her hand over his cheek he knew coming here was a mistake. He thought this was what he needed, one of them beneath him. He’d just close his eyes and pretend it was Sonia. Now instead of the flush of heat and lust, he felt stone cold.

“Damn it,” he muttered.

“You got a ride, soldier? We could take a ride.” She licked her sticky pink lips. “Or take a walk in the moonlight.”

He could have her and be done. But somehow he knew he’d never be done. Not since he’d first set eyes on Sonia. The woman wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her small breasts against him. Cigarette smoke clung to her hair and her soft body only reminded him of how Sonia held back. Johnny dragged the woman’s arms from his neck because he didn’t want her. He wanted the woman he’d been dreaming of and lusting after for weeks and weeks. He’d spent too many nights imagining Sonia to settle for this clinging woman who smelled like stale beer and male sweat. He pulled her off and moved to the other end of the bar.

He didn’t want sex with this stranger. He wanted Sonia.

She’d asked him to be patient. Damn her.

He ordered a whiskey and then threw it back. The burn in his throat was familiar but there was no second kick.

The front door opened and in walked his captain, dressed in jeans, running shoes and a marine sweatshirt on inside out. Johnny just knew he’d gotten him out of bed, that nice warm bed he shared with his bride. Johnny snorted, not feeling one bit guilty. If he had to sleep alone, the captain could, too.

“Waste of money,” said Mac, nodding toward the empty whiskey glass.

Johnny stared sullenly at him.

“You can finally talk and you got nothing to say?”

Oh, no. He had plenty. But he was pretty sure the captain didn’t want to hear it.

“You remember when I found you and Brianna together in my bed?” asked Johnny.

Mac winced. Suddenly it was the captain who had nothing to say. He ordered two beers just to have something to do and pushed one at Johnny before taking a long pull of his own. Finally he banged the long-necked bottle on the bar and turned to him. “I remember.”

“I was pissed she picked you. Hoped she had feelings for me but she couldn’t see me so I never had a chance. Not with my...condition.”

“Johnny....” Mac stopped there and had another swallow of his beer.

“Did you pick Sonia to be my companion? To keep me company while I waited for this?” he swept a hand over his form.

Mac’s fingers tightened on the neck of his bottle and his jaw muscles twitched. “What if I did? She kept you from using that gun, didn’t she?”

Johnny scowled.

“You think I didn’t know about it? Well, I did.”

Johnny released his beer and made several gestures.

Mac watched in silence and then said, “Say it to my face.”

“I said you’re a fucking asshole and Sonia is treating me as if I’ve got the clap.”

Mac stared at Johnny’s hands. “What’s the sign for clap?” he asked.

“You have to finger spell it.”

Mac exhaled through his nose and made a face as if he didn’t have the time or energy. Johnny finished his beer in several long swallows. Mac signaled the bartender by raising two fingers then returned his attention to Johnny.

“She’s treating you like someone she just met. John, look at you.” Mac gestured toward the mirror. “She doesn’t know you.”

“The hell she doesn’t.”

“You look different. Give her time. She asked you to be patient, didn’t she?”

Johnny slammed his empty bottle on the table. “How do you know that?” Had he bugged the restaurant? Was their date scripted?

“She said it right in front of me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Did I have eyes in that room? Yes. I couldn’t let you go out alone. There are too many variables. You don’t know how to control the wolf yet. Strong emotion triggers the change. I couldn’t have you going all furry in public.”

“Strong emotion? Then I ought to be wearing a fur coat right now.”

“Listen, John, I’ll teach you how to control it. You’ll get the hang of it and if Sonia is right for you, she’ll come around.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“Well, she won’t if you keep acting like an asshole and chase her away. Do you know about her mom?”

Johnny nodded.

“Her sister?”

Another nod.

“Then you know she’s cautious. So what is wrong with going slow? Her usual M.O. is a one-night stand. Would you rather have her only once. Slow might mean she’s, I don’t know, interested. So go slow.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yeah, you do. Go slow or fuck it up. Now can we go home?”

Chapter 11

J
ohnny woke alone in his king-size bed to the ringing phone. The bedsheets still smelled of Sonia, who had slept here, just not with him. He checked the phone’s screen and saw Mac’s image. He groaned, almost wishing he was in wolf form just so he wouldn’t have to pick up the damned phone.

He was at the medical center an hour later. Despite Johnny’s best efforts, he was still unable to change to wolf form. The team of doctors revealed that some of the earlier canine test subjects faired the same. Most changed back, some didn’t and they were at a loss to determine why. His sight and vision remained acute. He picked up an uneasy vibe from the group as if not changing was a bad thing. He couldn’t say he was the least bit sorry about that until he looked into Mac’s eyes and saw the worry there. Then he remembered the vampires stalking Mac’s wife. Now his captain would have no help protecting her. Mac had lost his wing man and Brianna had lost one of the only two werewolves in the world who were willing to protect a vampire from her own kind. Most of the werewolves would have gladly turned her over or killed her on sight.

Johnny met his friend’s troubled stare and knew he’d be worse than useless against vampires now, like a toddler with a butter knife going against a medieval knight.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Mac’s brow furrowed in question.

“I can’t help you protect Brianna,” said Johnny.

Mac dropped his gaze but recovered quickly and pressed a hand to Johnny’s shoulder. “I told you when we came here, that was never your job. She’s not your responsibility. She’s mine.”

Easy to say, but Johnny knew that when the vamps came, they came together and one werewolf might not be enough. They’d need to get her to the lock-in facility.

“Johnny, if you’re human again, mostly human, then you can live a normal life. See your sister and your mother. I’ll keep my wife safe. We have the entire secure perimeter right here. I’ll scent them in plenty of time to get her to safety.”

Johnny gave him a long look and Mac nodded. The weight of that responsibility ebbed away. He smiled.

“I would have defended her.”

“I know it. We’re both happy for you. Eventually Sonia will be happy that you won’t be going all furry on her, too. Give her time.”

“I haven’t seen her since last night.”

Mac rubbed his neck. “You want me to have her report to your place?”

“For what, a lesson?” Then it hit him. Sonia must have realized it right away. Of course she would have.

“What’s going to happen with her?”

Mac shrugged. “Not sure. She’ll keep her clearance but...”

But he didn’t need a translator. Holy shit, they’d be reassigning her. “No, I want her here.”

Mac nodded. “I know you do, buddy. But it might not be up to you. And besides, if you stay human you can have your combat assignment. You’ll be leaving anyway, just like you wanted.”

Leaving Mac and Brianna behind. Leaving Sonia behind. He’d been badgering Mac to get him back to combat duty for months. Now he could go, but where did that leave Sonia? Uncertainty oscillated inside him like water sloshing in a bucket.

“Yeah, like I wanted,” said Johnny and rubbed his jaw, not sure he wanted to leave the island and realizing it wasn’t the island he didn’t wish to leave, but Sonia.

“Well, not so fast. The doctors want to observe you awhile. You still have your sense of smell and you’re too damn strong for a human. So some part of you is still wolf.”

“What about Sonia?” asked Johnny. “Her assignment?”

“She can stay awhile.”

But she was leaving or he was. Johnny felt sick. How long did they have?

Johnny left Mac and headed for his quarters. He was halfway up the hill when he scented something familiar and froze to the spot as if he had just realized he’d stepped on a land mine.

Vampire. Had to be. But not Brianna. This was sweet and cloying, like heavy perfume mixed with the tang of spilled blood.

Johnny changed direction, running to Mac’s home. As he went the scent grew fainter and fainter until he was not sure he had smelled it at all. He drew out his phone as he ran and called Mac. Johnny arrived in Brianna’s yard to find her standing in her garden, where she had obviously been working. She would have heard his approach as he crashed from the undergrowth. Her welcoming smile faded as she looked at his wild expression and she clutched her other hand over the first.

“What is it?” she asked, but already her gaze was flitting about for any sign of the vampires and she was vibrating as she did before she vanished from his sight. Brianna could move so quickly that even he could not track her movements.

“I smelled something down the hill. I called Mac.” He no sooner said the words then she was at his side, clinging to him. Then she gave a cry and pushed off and away staggering backward.

“I forgot. You’re human again. I can’t touch you.”

He’d forgotten, too. What did he do now—stay with her, wait for Mac, take her to lockdown or send her down alone? She could be there in five seconds but if they were here that would not be fast enough. For the first time since the change, Johnny felt powerless. He motioned away from the house. It would be better not to be where they would expect to find her.

They did not have long to wait. Mac roared into the yard in his gray werewolf form a few minutes later. He huffed from his exertions. Johnny realized he must have fairly flown up that hill. And as an odd turn about now Johnny could speak and Mac could not.

Mac moved to stand beside Brianna who collapsed against her husband as naturally as if he were in human form. She did not cringe or show any sign at all that his fearsome appearance troubled her. In fact she looked damned relieved.

“Did you scent them?” Johnny asked.

Mac shook his head.

“It was down the hill before that second turn. Very faint. Do you want to bring her down?”

Mac gave another nod.

“Walk or drive?”

Mac lifted his hands as if on a steering wheel then pointed to Johnny. He wanted him to drive. Johnny motioned to the Jeep and Brianna climbed into the back seat leaving the larger passenger seat for her nine-foot werewolf husband. Johnny drove fast but not crazy fast. At the bottom they drove straight into the secure facility built to study one werewolf and protect one female vampire. The metal doors shut behind them.

Johnny now began to wonder if the vamps were inside the base or if his senses were screwy. The perimeter fence included their houses above the base and were rigged with special motion detectors sensitive enough to detect male vamps. The high-speed cameras recorded everything that moved. If intruders broke perimeter, they’d know it. That meant they weren’t on base...yet.

Major Scofield waited inside the lockdown facility, meeting both Mac and Brianna.

“Where’s Sonia?” Johnny asked.

Mac pointed up the hill and Johnny’s heart shuttered as cold terror flashed through him like flood water.

“I’ve got to get her,” he told his commanding officer and took off without waiting for approval. Ten minutes later he roared into his driveway. It bothered him that he could not run the distance, that it was now faster to drive. What if the vampires were at his house? Mac was down below with Brianna and Johnny would no longer be a match for them. He left the Jeep and raced into the yard, charging up the stairs. He threw open the door to his place so hard the knob crashed through the sheet rock. Sonia, in the kitchen, turned and screamed. She took one look at him and ran in his direction. He didn’t explain, just grabbed her and turned, running with her in his arms, holding her like a tackle dummy as he tore across the yard and back to the Jeep. When she was seated and he had the Jeep in Reverse she asked him what was happening.

“One of them is here,” he said, eyes on the road as he threw it into gear.

“Vampires?” she whispered.

“Yes. Down the hill.”

“Brianna!” called Sonia as they flew past her driveway.

“Already at the base in lockdown.”

Sonia clicked on her belt and held on as they sped down the road and into the fenced compound.

“Did they trip the perimeter alarms?”

They hadn’t. So they’d beaten the perimeter or they were still outside the fence.

“No. I smelled one.”

It wasn’t until they reached lock-in and he stopped the Jeep that he allowed himself to believe Sonia was truly safe. He reached across the seat and dragged her into his lap.

She threw her arms about his neck and their lips met in a fierce kiss. His mouth slanted over hers and she held him tighter as she gave a cry deep in her throat and opened her mouth. His tongue slid along hers as they deepened the kiss. She was safe, he realized and pulled her closer, so thankful she was out of harm’s way that his eyes drifted closed. Fear melted to relief and the kiss changed from frantic to fire. Pure liquid heat ignited in his core and his body hardened. Her fingers raked through his hair, those trimmed nails leaving a tingling path in their wake. She rubbed against him and he felt the aching pressure of her soft, round breasts pressed to him in a way that he’d imagined many times. But this was better. So good. She writhed against him and he angled her closer so that she sat between the wheel and his chest, with her bottom planted firmly on his erection. She sighed and shifted, rocking against him as he deepened the kiss. The horn blared and they both jumped. Sonia broke away staring at him in shock, her lips parted and pink. He tried to kiss her again but she slithered back to her seat.

He shook himself, trying to drive away the arousal and the aching need. Nothing in his imagining could ever compare to that kiss. She had a hand on her forehead as she breathed heavily through her open mouth.

“Wow,” she said at last.

He blew out a breath and nodded.

“Should we report?” she asked, glancing toward the entrance and the surveillance cameras

He should, but not in his condition. If strong emotions triggered the change than he was definitely not changing to wolf form any time soon because he had never felt an emotional tsunami like that one. He swallowed.

“I need a minute.”

She glanced at the long ridge of male flesh sheathed in his beige cammies. “Oh, sure.” She straightened in her seat tugging at her shirt and her face flushed.

“What were you doing at my place?” he asked. Not really caring, but fighting hard against the urge to drag her back onto his lap.

“Oh, well, I thought we should talk.” She sagged in her seat and then turned to face him, picking up with sign language, only this time she didn’t accompany each word with speech.

I am so sorry I ruined the evening. I’m confused and afraid. What will happen to me now?
Her eyebrows tented at the question.
You don’t need a translator or any of the sign language I taught you. You don’t need me.

He made his response in slow careful movements.
I need you now more than ever.

Her bottom lip trembled and she reached for him, throwing herself into his arms. “I knew this would happen,” she said.

“What?”

“I didn’t want to get attached. Then I wouldn’t care about leaving. But now.” She sniffed. “I knew something like this would happen the minute I did.”

He felt a spark of hope that died as he took in her bereft expression. He stroked her hair. “Sonia, it’s going to be all right.”

Someone banged on the driver’s-side window. Sonia sprang back to her seat, wiping her eyes. Johnny turned to the jerk who interrupted them and saw Major Scofield.

“Need you both inside, son,” said the major.

Johnny nodded and opened the door, but hesitated as he looked back to Sonia.

“Johnny,” urged Scofield.

He exited the vehicle as Sonia scrambled out the other side, her face now red as she saluted.

The major motioned with his head. “Touma, you’re coming with me. Lam, you’ve got perimeter with MacConnelly.”

She gave Johnny one long beseeching look before scrambling after the retreating major.

She signed,
Be careful.

Johnny found Mac, still in werewolf form. They spent the rest of the afternoon sweeping the hillside and surrounding area but found no trace of the scent of vampires.

“False alarm?” asked Mac that evening.

“Might have been. It was faint. But I could swear I smelled them.” Were his senses playing tricks on him, leaving him all together? “I was sure.”

“But then why can’t we track him? And why no perimeter alarms or surveillance footage?”

Johnny couldn’t answer but the doubts crept in. He could no longer trust his senses.

Everyone stayed at the compound that evening. Johnny checked on Sonia, finding her eating alone in the mess hall. She said she was fine but she seemed nervous and upset. He wanted to linger, but he had a duty to Mac and the others here, so they swept the hillside again that evening and once more the following day. He and Mac remained on patrol, one or the other, circling the compound and scenting for vampires.

The base remained in lockdown one more night before calling an all clear. Scofield put extra security details on assignment and patrols on the hill. Johnny didn’t like the company, but he could see that it relieved Brianna.
It shouldn’t,
he thought. Marines were no match for vampires. The volcanic hillside was steep and impassible in places, even for a vampire. That was why they selected this spot. It allowed Brianna the distance from others, while affording them a defensible position. Despite their assurance that no vampires could attack from above them, they still had a perimeter fence, high speed cameras, infrared trip wires. All had been checked and all came up empty. Which made him wonder if he’d imagined the entire thing.

The only one here who stood a chance against them was Mac and he was all set to face however many they sent for Brianna. Once they found her, that might be a lot. If he were hunting her, he’d be damned sure he came with more vampires the next time.

Johnny heard the Jeep when he was in the shower and assumed it was Mac. He threw on jeans and a T-shirt before coming out onto the porch, then paused as her scent came to him on the breeze.