As he walked, he kissed her lips, her eyes, her forehead. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clung to him. The only space and time and matter that existed were right here, right now, and him. She no longer had any desire to maintain control. In fact, she wanted to lose what little she had left. Lose it to him, fall into him with complete abandon.
Within minutes, Danyon was lowering her down on a royal blue comforter atop a huge four-poster bed. She sank into it, her mind and body still wrapped in heat and desire. His lips never left her as he removed his shirt. Then he stood and stripped off his pants.
He was huge, the length of him fully engorged. His abdomen was taut and cut, the muscles in his chest, his arms, and his thighs massive and highly defined. Shauna saw them ripple, noticed that his eyes had gone from honey-colored to intense brown. Something told her he was riding the edge of transformation. Instead
of frightening her, it excited her all the more. It caused the heat and need inside her to explode into a roaring inferno.
He leaned over her, placing a hand on either side of her shoulders. He pushed her thighs apart with one knee.
His eyes never left hers.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “So beautiful.”
His voice sounded nothing like Danyon. It was raw, almost feral—and it rang familiar to her ear.
The length of him brushed up against her sex, teased her swollen mound, stroked the cleft of her. She strained toward him, arching her back. “Yes, yesss.” Then her words were replaced by sounds animalistic in nature, mirroring the power and fierceness of the need inside her. The need to control returned once more, only this time she wanted to control his movements, to grab him, force him deeper inside her.
He inched forward rubbing against her, steel against satin. The ridge of him entered her, drove her mad, to the point of incomprehension.
She moaned, urging him inside her, digging her fingernails into his shoulders, raking them across his back.
She felt the muscles beneath her hands undulate all the more.
“Yesss,” she growled.
And he thrust forward, plunging the length of him into her swollen well of heat. She cried out, pulled him in closer, bit into his shoulder. He thrust deeper, harder, in—out—in. She was filled to overflowing, consumed
with the pleasure of the hugeness inside her, the weight of him on top of her.
This time her orgasm felt like a tsunami, and she screamed with its release. She heard him growl, then he plunged into her again, and his body became one undulating mass of taut muscle. She heard his howl of release, and her mind settled into a gentle, swirling fog.
The next thing she knew, Danyon was stretched out beside her, and she lay in the crook of his arm, naked flesh to naked flesh. He smoothed her hair with a hand and whispered her name.
Then he drew her in even closer and it felt like home.
I
t was seven the next morning before Shauna reached home. Danyon hadn’t wanted her to go, but she’d already begged off half a day’s work the day before and didn’t want to leave her sisters in a bind, especially with them bringing in a new load of inventory. If given her druthers, though, she would still be with Danyon, snuggled against him under a thick, down comforter. She’d be there now, tonight, tomorrow…
Shauna smiled to herself, remembering how Danyon had teased her this morning after she’d discovered her clothes on a small table in the hall near the bathroom. They had been cleaned, folded, and neatly stacked. Even her sneakers looked like new. She’d asked Danyon how they had gotten there, and when he told her that Raul had taken care of her clothes as he had asked him to, she’d
hid under the comforter, embarrassed. What time had Raul dropped off her clothes? And what had he heard? Last night she’d experienced the best sex she’d ever had in her life, and she knew she’d not exactly been—quiet during that experience.
First the embarrassment of Raul possibly hearing more than he should have, and now having to face her sisters. She wasn’t one to stay out all night, so she already knew Fiona would bombard her with questions, and Caitlin would probably tease her to no end.
Shauna sighed, preparing herself for the inevitable. She stood near the gate that led to the main entry of the center building they called home. It was surrounded by a ten-foot brick wall, and the gate opened up to a path that led past a small garden to the front door.
Inside, the foyer offered two hallways, one to the left, the second to the right. The grand staircase in the middle of those hallways extended to the second floor. From her perspective, the house was basically three large apartments joined together by a common living area. The commons had a huge dining room that also served as a ballroom, and a large kitchen in the center. As for the apartments, Fiona lived in the east wing, Caitlin in the west, and Shauna in the middle. Each had kitchenettes, bathrooms, bedrooms and a sitting area. Sometimes Shauna felt like she had to go through an entire subdivision just to get to her place. There was no sneaking in—ever. Whether she liked it or not, it was time to face the music.
As she suspected, Fiona and Caitlin were in the main
kitchen. Fiona was at the stove scrambling eggs in one skillet, while flipping ham slices in another. Caitlin stood at the island counter slicing kiwi and fresh strawberries. Both looked up when she walked in.
“Well, well,” Caitlin said. “Our little night bird is back.” Her silver eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I thought you were sleeping,” Fiona said. “You’ve been out all night?”
“Can’t you tell by her eyes?” Caitlin said, grinning. “They’re redder than Dorothy’s ruby slippers.”
“They are not,” Shauna said, marching past her. “Any coffee left?”
Fiona hitched a thumb toward a side counter. “I just filled the carafe.”
As Shauna poured herself a cup of coffee, she felt her sisters’ eyes boring into her back.
“So,” Fiona finally said, “did you have a fun evening?”
Caitlin chuckled.
Shauna took a couple sips of coffee, then turned to them and leaned her back against the counter. “Okay, what’s so funny?” she asked Caitlin.
Caitlin held up a hand, feigning innocence. “What?” The Cheshire cat grin on her face widened.
“I heard you snicker. I’m just curious as to what’s so funny.”
“Hey, I don’t snicker,” Caitlin said, then snickered.
“Come on, spill it already.”
“Well, it’s kind of obvious that you
did
have fun last night,” Caitlin said.
“Huh?” Shauna quickly checked her shirt and jeans.
Both were unwrinkled and clean; the same as when she had put them on earlier.
“Not your clothes, silly.” Caitlin laughed. “Your face.”
“Cait, stop picking on her,” Fiona said. Her lips twitched as she struggled to hold back a grin.
“What’s wrong with my face?” Shauna asked. She turned and leaned over to see her reflection in the toaster. Besides the dark rings under her eyes from too little sleep, she looked the same as she always did.
“Not
on
your face,
in
your face.”
Shauna blew out an exasperated breath. “That makes no sense. What the heck are you talking about?”
“You’ve got the glow bug.”
“All right, you two.” Fiona carried a platter of scrambled eggs and pan-seared ham to the kitchen table. “Eat up. We need to get to the shop early today. Jagger and Ryder are already over there unloading the merchandise we picked up at Keeno’s yesterday. Everything needs to be priced and shelved.”
Still grinning, Caitlin carried the bowl of sliced fruit to the table.
Shauna followed, coffee cup in hand. “Okay, I know I’m going to be sorry for asking this but…what the heck is a glow bug?”
Fiona pointed to the table. “Sit—eat—both of you.
Caitlin, stop teasing her or we’ll never get through breakfast.”
“But I want to know what she means by ‘glow bug,’”
Shauna said, taking her place at the table.
“What it means, little sister,” Caitlin said, while spooning fruit onto her plate, “is that…” She paused, took a bite of strawberry and chewed it—slowly.
Shauna tsked. “Aw, c’mon!”
Caitlin took her time swallowing. “Come on, what?”
“Finish what you were saying.”
Fiona shook her head. “For heaven’s sake, you two, give it a rest.”
“Okay, okay.” Caitlin rested an elbow on the table and aimed her fork at Shauna. “It means you found a Mr. Wonderful. You know, a man who finally turned all your lights on, flipped all your switches, banged all your buttons.”
Embarrassed, Shauna tsked again and quickly spooned eggs onto her own plate.
“So, did you?” Caitlin asked.
Shauna ignored her.
“Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Ryder definitely turns all my lights on, and there’s no question that Jagger does it for Fiona. You’ve seen her when he’s around. Especially after he spends the night.”
“Caitlin!” Fiona said, blushing.
“Well, it’s true.”
Jagger DeFarge was a vampire and a homicide detective for NOPD’s eighth precinct. He was also Fiona’s fiancé. Ryder was Caitlin’s groom-to-be. He was a shifter and a bounty hunter and had played a significant part in
stopping the walk-ins before they destroyed the city and everyone in it. Shauna liked both men. They were strong, yet kind, good-looking, but not vain. What she liked most about them, though, was that Jagger and Ryder took good care of her sisters, and it was obvious that they truly loved them.
Caitlin might have been teasing, but she was right about Fiona. Every time Jagger came around, it looked as if someone had turned a thousand-watt bulb on inside her. Whenever he stayed the night, the following morning, Fiona would float into the kitchen either singing, humming, or whistling. A nuclear bomb could have gone off next door, and Fiona would have sworn on everything sacred that all was right with the world. When Caitlin and Ryder spent time together, Caitlin had the same case of happys, but her afterglow had a different attitude than Fiona’s. It was mellower. More, “
Yeah, I know all isn’t right with the world, but who cares?
”
Still embarrassed about how easily they’d fingered her, Shauna moved eggs around on her plate with a fork. “You two act like I’ve never had a boyfriend. I’m not a kid anymore you know.”
“Oh, honey, we know that,” Fiona said. “But you have to admit, it has been a while since you’ve…well, since you’ve kept company.”
“A while?” Caitlin laughed. “Try like two years.”
Shauna shot her a look. “It has
not
been two years.”
She quickly turned back to her eggs, suspecting Caitlin was right again. It
had
been a while. The last guy she
dated had been Jay Beranger, a furniture store owner from Metairie. He had been nice enough, well spoken, decent looking, but just like the other guys she’d been with—and there had been painfully few—something was missing. When Jay had tried to push the relationship forward by proclaiming his undying love and proposing, Shauna broke up with him. She knew she would never marry him, so it didn’t make sense to her to keep leading him on, letting him think the possibility of marriage existed.
By other women’s standards, Shauna figured she’d probably be considered overly picky, and then reminded herself that the ‘perfect’ man only existed in romance novels. But she’d never looked for perfection. Just someone who
got
her. A man who knew where every switch inside her was located.
“What’s his name?” Fiona asked.
Stalling, Shauna took another sip of coffee. Then another.
“Yes, who is this Mr. Wonderful?” Caitlin asked, her expression one of an eager sponge.
“His name is Danyon Stone.”
“Oh, yes,” Fiona said, her eyes brightening with recognition. “I’ve met Danyon a couple times at the council meetings. Very handsome. And if I remember correctly, he’s alpha of the East Bank.”
“You mean he’s a were?” Caitlin asked.
Shauna frowned. “Yeah, he’s wolven, so what?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Caitlin said,
eyes twinkling. “It just makes you an official member of the taboo crew, that’s all.”
“Huh?”
Caitlin turned to Fiona. “You know, if we’re not careful, the title Keeper is going to take on a whole new meaning in this city.”
This time Fiona laughed.
“All right, you guys, stop already.” Shauna dropped her fork onto her plate. “What am I missing here?”
“Don’t get mad,” Caitlin said. “I’m only teasing. See, Fiona is the Keeper of the vampires, and Jagger is a vampire. I’m Keeper of the shifters, and Ryder is a shifter. You’re the Keeper of the weres, and this Danyon Stone, alpha wolven of the East Bank, is definitely were. We Keepers are certainly keeping our own, don’t you think?”
Shauna shrugged, sipped more coffee. She wasn’t sure how to respond.
Keeper of the weres? Yep, right here.
Keeper of Danyon, the man? She doubted any woman had ever kept him and doubted one ever could.
“A wolven, huh?” Caitlin said. “Sister, if those dark circles under your eyes are any indication, Mr. Stone must be packing—”
“Caitlin!” Fiona swatted a hand at her. “Don’t be so uncouth.”
“Okay, look.” Shauna set her cup down on the table a little too hard, and coffee sloshed over the brim. “Y’all want it straight? Last night wasn’t all about staying over
at Danyon’s. He’s really great at…you know, that other part—”
“I knew it!” Caitlin clapped.
Fiona jabbed her lightly in the side with an elbow.
“Stop. Let her talk.” She turned to Shauna. “Go on, honey.”
Shauna looked from Fiona to Caitlin. Breakfast had been forgotten. Both stared at her intently, obviously eager to hear what she had to say.
“So it wasn’t all about sleeping with Danyon and…?” Caitlin said impatiently.
“Did you go dancing?” Fiona prompted. “To the movies? What—”
“We moved dead bodies,” Shauna said abruptly.
Fiona’s mouth fell open.
Caitlin’s fork clattered to her plate. “What?”
“Did you say
dead
bodies?” Fiona’s face turned ashen. She set her fork down beside her plate, nice and proper, as if preparing herself and everything around her for the worst.
“Uh…yeah.”
Fiona and Caitlin glanced at each other, disbelief etched on their faces.
“Well…go on,” Fiona said hesitantly.
Shauna told her sisters about Nicole and Simon, about how they had been found, and how she’d held the flash lights while Danyon examined the bodies.
“My God,” Fiona said. “Why didn’t you come home and tell us right away?”
“You weren’t here,” Shauna said. “You had taken off for Lake Charles, remember? Keeno’s?”
“Does August know about this?” Caitlin asked.
“Of course he does. He wanted the bodies moved to his lake house in LaPlace so he could see Nicole and Simon for himself. He wanted them laid out somewhere decent when the families arrived. Not in the back of an SUV.”
“Why didn’t Danyon call the police?” Fiona asked. “I know how the clans feel about taking care of their own, but two murders? He should have called someone.”
“I agree,” Caitlin said. “The bodies shouldn’t have been moved. Crucial evidence might have been destroyed.”
“I said the same thing to Danyon when I first heard about it,” Shauna said.
“He could have called Jagger,” Fiona said. “He’s under world. He’d have understood the delicacy of the situation.”
“It was more delicate than you think,” Shauna said. “Nicole and Simon were still in were-state. Danyon didn’t want to take any chances on someone seeing them that way.”
“Whoa.” Fiona suddenly held up both hands and squinted as if she’d just faced the most horrific sight of her life. “You mean to tell me that two weres were murdered, and you were out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a flashlight?”
Caitlin looked at Fiona with a puzzled expression. “You’re just catching that now?”
“It just hit me now! Good Lord, Shauna, do you realize how much danger you put yourself in?”
“I was with Danyon,” Shauna said.
“So? Even if Danyon had the strength of ten weres, what good would it have done if the perpetrator turned out to be a gang of thirty or forty? What would you have done? Run away while Danyon fought them all off? You could have been chased down, captured, and killed for heaven’s sake! Danyon should never have allowed you to be there.”
“Allowed? He’s not my father, and I insisted. My God, you’re letting all these wild scenarios get stuck in your head—gangs—captured—it’s a wonder why I’m not kept chained to a bed for safekeeping. Fi, look, I know you worry because you love me and don’t want to see me hurt, but I’m not a baby anymore. Both of you have to remember that I’m a Keeper, too. Keeper of the weres, and I’m responsible for their well-being. If either of you had found out that two from your community had been murdered, would you have just sat back and done nothing? Wouldn’t you have wanted details? Been on the scene so you’d at least know firsthand what you were really dealing with?”