by Sarah Carter
“Is that a challenge? I will come out here naked if you don’t believe me.”
Her jaw drops down. “Don’t you even think about it.”
Damien laughs. “Oh, this is going to be great.”
Claire sits on the bed and turns on the computer to distract herself.
“Am I boring you?” Damien asks.
“No, of course not. I told my brother I would email him when I got here.”
“Are you close to him?”
Claire nods. “He’s my best friend.”
“I’m really close to my sisters, too,” Damien says. “I don’t have any brothers. I do have my cousin Jackson. We really despised each other until recently.”
“What changed?” Claire bites her lip. “Never mind. That’s none of my business. Forget that I said anything.”
With a smirk, Damien walks over and sits on the bed opposite of her. “No, it’s fine. Recent events forced us to realize that we weren’t that different.”
Politely and nervously, she nods. “My brother is only two years older than me. We’re really, really close. We protect each other.”
“Aww, does he beat up boys for you?” Damien laughs.
Claire stifles a laugh of her own. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Well, I’m going to get something to eat. Would you like to join me?”.
Claire stares at him for a second. “Don’t you have friends you’d rather do that with?”
“I was asking you, but if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”
“Umm, I guess. Sure.” Claire puts the computer down. “This isn’t how I thought my day was going to go.”
Damien smiles. “You weren’t expecting to have a boy surprise you in your room.”
“Well, yes, and more specifically you, but it’s all good. I’m hungry, so food sounds great.”
He stands up and extends his hand. “Then let’s make our way downstairs.”
Hesitantly, Claire takes his hand and a sudden surge of pleasure courses through her. She actually yelps and pulls her hand away. “Oh my gosh!”
“Wow,” Damien retorts, putting his hand down. “You have some energy. Holy cow.”
“I never had that reaction with someone before. I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Raising an eyebrow, Damien says, “If you weren’t trying, I’d be curious to see how much energy you give off when you are trying.”
She feels her cheeks light on fire. “I’ve never done anything like it, so I wouldn’t know.”
A sly smirk twitches on Damien’s face. “Let’s go do lunch, then.”
“Alright,” Claire mumbles as she walks to the door. Damien steps in front of her when they get there and opens it for her. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure,” he replies, with a twinkle in his eyes.
Chapter 2
They walk down to the banquet hall. Claire gets really nervous because she’s never really been around shifters her own age. They enter the room and are over powered by the smell of food.
“Oh my gosh,” Claire says. “That smells awesome.”
“We spared no expense,” Damien replies. “We want this to work so we can do it every year.”
Claire just nods. Thank God I only have to come once. “So, I’m surprised you’re here. I figured you’d know a million shifters. Why would you need to congregate with us normal folk?”
Damien looks down at her. “I’m not some supreme prick or something who thinks he’s better than everyone else. I’m as normal as you.”
“Yeah, right,” Claire mumbles.
“You don’t believe me?” Damien stops.
She studies him. “Well, your reputation precedes you. So, no, I didn’t think you’d need to mingle with strangers.”
Damien rubs his chin. “Hmm. Yeah, I do have a reputation, but I’m not like that anymore. I’ve changed. It’s about quality versus empty quantity now.”
He starts forward again and Claire follows him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t,” Damien replies as he gets to the buffet line.
They pass a group of girls who look at Damien and start to giggle. Claire rolls her eyes. “Well, there are some normal girls for you to get to know. They seem to be all about you. Maybe you can find some quality.”
He turns and looks at the girls, and hey all look away. Damien chuckles lightly. “I have a lot of female admirers.”
“Really?” Claire groans. She walks past him and picks up a tray. “Guys are ridiculous.”
“You’re very pretty. I bet you have a lot of male admirers.”
Claire snorts. “I tend to scare guys.”
“Why do you say that?” Damien grabs a tray himself.
“Just do.” Claire puts some food on her plate. “I also have no interest in meeting shifter guys.”
Damien stops dead in his tracks. “What? Why?”
Quickly realizing what she said, Claire stammers, “That isn’t what I meant. It came out wrong.”
“Do you have something against the Neturu?” Damien asks slowly.
“No, of course not.”
“Shy?”
That makes her burst out laughing. “Not normally, but here, right now, yes, very much so.”
“You have no reason to be shy. No one is going to bite. Well, unless provoked,” Damien murmurs, looking at her. Claire feels her cheeks heat up. He laughs and puts some chicken on his plate. “So, what college are you planning to go to?”
“Stanford.” Claire beams back.
“That’s awesome,” Damien replies. “I just finished up a semester at Yale.”
She laughs. “Way to one-up me.”
“You know, my cousin is actually going to go to Stanford with his girlfriend this fall. I’ll have to introduce you,” Damien says as he gestures for them to walk to a table.
“Umm,” Claire mumbles, “Sure.”
Damien’s eyes widen. “Oh, please lord, no.”
Claire looks up and sees two red-headed girls walking up to them.
“You’re my girlfriend,” he spits out under his breath.
Claire looks up at him, “What?”
The shorter one girl walks up to him and giggles. “Hi, Damien.”
“Hi, Shannon.” He forces a smile. He looks at the other girl, who giggles too “Cheryl.”
Claire just raises an eyebrow.
“I didn’t realize you were going to be here.”
“Happy to see us?” Cheryl grins.
He smirks. “Always.”
Shannon looks at Claire, who stares blankly at them. “Who are you?”
“Oh, how rude of me.” Damien motions toward Claire. “This is my girlfriend, Claire.”
“Girlfriend?” Shannon glances from Damien to Claire and back again.
“Yes.” Damien puts his finger to his mouth. “But you need to keep it a secret. I’m swearing you to secrecy, which means if you tell anyone it’ll be treason.”
Both girls lose the color in their face.
“So, hush-hush, right girls?” They nod, and Damien smiles. “Yeah, we’re sharing a suite here. You know, a nice romantic week away. Enjoying everyone else’s and our own company. There’s even a Jacuzzi in our room.” He winks.
Reaching out, Claire pinches Damien’s neck in one certain spot. He yells out and drops to his knees. Security appears out of nowhere and swarms around them. “Oops,” Claire exhales sarcastically.
“Ow!” Damien yells. The security guard grabs Claire by the arm.
“You shouldn’t say stuff like that about your girlfriend,” Claire growls.
“Let her go,” Damien snaps to his security guard. The guy just looks at him. Damien narrows his eyes. “I said, take your hands off of her.”
The security guard finally lets Claire go.
Damien stands back up. He looks down at his food on the floor. “Please, get someone to clean this up.” The guard member nods.
Claire rolls her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll clea
n it up. It’s my fault. Just tell me where the mop is.”
Shannon and Cheryl say, “Bye,” in unison, then they quickly walk away.
“I’ll clean this up. I’m sorry about doing that, but I don’t appreciate you insinuating that we’re having sex, because we aren’t.” Claire sets her tray on the table next to them. “You can have me executed if you want, and you have my sincere apologies, but I didn’t like you saying that.”
“I’m the one who should apologize.” Damien sighs and rubs his neck. “It was out of line. Where did you learn to do that?”
Looking away, Claire says, “In my family, every girl learns to take down an opponent in self-defense. I’m going to go find a mop and some stuff to clean this up.”
“No, really, let someone else clean it up. See? They’re coming right now,” Damien points out, as two guys hotel staff come over.
“No, really, I should do it,” Claire retorts with attitude.
Damien laughs. “You are spunky, aren’t you? I like that.”
Picking up her tray, Claire says, “I’m going to go sit in the corner and eat now. I’ll call my parents and tell them to come to get me.”
“Why? Have I offended you so badly that you need to leave?”
“Aren’t I going to get punished? I mean, do you know who you are?”
The corner of Damien’s mouth twitches. “Yes. I’m a jerk that lets his mouth run. You’re a beautiful, nice girl that I seriously offended. I apologize to you. If you don’t want to share a room anymore, I understand. I can find different accommodations.”
“Well, no. I’m fine if you’re fine,” Claire murmurs, not meeting his gaze.
“Okay. Why don’t you get a table for us and I’ll get another tray. Then we can properly get to know each other.”
She nods. “I’ll go sit over there.” Claire points to a table against the wall, as far away as possible from other people.
Damien chuckles. “Alright. Seclusion. Got it. I’ll meet you over there.”
Completely embarrassed by her actions, Claire walks over to the table and sits down. She puts her face in her hands, wanting to cry or die, she isn’t sure which. A few minutes pass until she senses someone sit down opposite of her.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I think I’ll get sick if I do,” Claire mumbles through her fingers.
“Upset stomach?”
“I made a fool of myself and could have gotten thrown in jail. I don’t think sometimes. I just react. That isn’t good.” Claire sighs and pulls her hands away.
Damien leans in by her. “That was awesome. Where did you learn it from?”
“Ancient family secret,” Claire says. “I can’t say.”
“I could force you to tell me.” Damien points his fork at her.
Claire leans in closer to him. “I’m being serious. It’s a family secret. You have a problem with that, call my grandfather.”
“Who’s your grandfather?” Damien cuts a piece of his chicken.
“That isn’t important. Don’t you know the energy point for that?”
Raising an eyebrow, Damien says, “I haven’t gotten there in my training yet. Why? Have you?”
“A girl has to keep her secrets,” Claire declares with a smirk. “It’s a way to keep boys on their toes.”
“Do you often keep boys on their toes?” Damien inquires.
Giggling, Claire answers, “You have no idea. I have yet to meet a boy that can keep up with me. Well, okay, that’s a lie. My brother’s two friends can, but that’s about it.”
“Keep up with you how?”
Claire stuffs a piece of food in her mouth and shrugs. “You know…the usual.”
“You’re really elusive,” Damien laughs.
“I don’t know you. Why would I tell you my secrets?”
“Hmm. I don’t know,” Damien mutters. “I guess you’re right.”
Continuing to eat, Claire just keeps quiet. The silence is a little awkward, so she finally says, “So what are you really doing here? Want to meet your future wife?”
With a chuckle, Damien shakes his head. “No, I’m here to monitor how this goes. I’ll also get to see my cousin and his girlfriend. I’m really close to them. This is just going to be a fun week. So, why are you here?”
“You want the truth?”
“Of course,” Damien replies, looking up at her.
Claire clicks her tongue. “My parents forced me. They said they were going to cut out my money and car if I didn’t come.”
“You aren’t serious.”
“Oh, I’m dead serious,” Claire grumbles. “I did not want to come.”
Putting his fork down, Damien says, “Exactly why didn’t you want to come? You say that with so much venom in your tone.”
“I…have my reasons,” Claire finally murmurs. “I tend to keep my distance from our kind.”
“If you don’t mind my asking…why?”
“I prefer the company of humans,” Claire replies, looking at him. “That’s the honest truth.”
He looks at her thoughtfully. “We’re great company, too. You should give us a chance.”
Claire just raises her eyebrows and looks to the side.
Damien leans in toward her. “Listen, give me this week to change your mind.”
Claire looks at him. “Excuse me?”
“Give me this week. I’ll introduce you to a lot of cool people, a lot of Neturu. I’d bet money that you’ll get along with Kayla. Everyone gets along with Kayla.”
“Who’s Kayla?”
Damien snorts. “My ex-girlfriend, slash best friend, slash cousin’s girlfriend.”
“What?” Claire retorts, a little dumbfounded.
“Please, I thought everyone heard this story. I was the butt of a lot of gossip there for a while,” Damien replies.
Claire just shakes her head and gives him a blank stare.
“Oh boy,” he sighs, folding his hands. “Okay, last year I went to meet Kayla. Let me note, my cousin Jackson’s family had already staked claim on Kayla as Jackson’s future wife.”
Claire narrows her eyes. “Is she made of gold?”
“No, she can shift into anything, and I mean a true Morrae.”
“An ultimate shifter?” Claire exhales in awe.
He nods. “Yup. She didn’t know it, though. She didn’t even know we existed. When I got there, I was furious. Her parents knew exactly what she was capable of and she’d never even met another Neturu. And of course the council wanted me to marry her.”
Claire’s chest tightens and her heart drops. “Yeah, you have to marry someone really special.”
“That’s what they want,” Damien replies. “Anyway, I went there to meet her and date her. We were actually dating when she was kidnapped.”
“Oh,” Claire exclaims. “The chick that was kidnapped by the illegitimate son of one of the past council members? I heard about that. She turned into a dragon and ate him. That was epic.”
Nodding, Damien says, “Yup. His name was William, and she didn’t eat him. Just sort of bit him in half. It actually grossed her out a lot. She had nightmares for a while.”
“So…not to pry, but how did she end up with your cousin?”
“The three of us were sort of always together and gradually they started to fall in love with each other. I kind of knew it, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I always got what I wanted and I refused to think otherwise. It bit me in the ass in the end, but honestly, I’m happy for them. They’re so desperately in love with each other. It makes me hopeful that someday I’ll find that.”
Claire nods her head. “I think falling in love would be a great adventure.”
“So you’ve never been in love?” Damien takes a sip of his drink.
“Umm, no. Not really. I’ve had two serious boyfriends, but they were both human.”
Damien looks at her. “Weren’t you afraid you’d accidently shift or something?”
Bursting out laugh
ing, Claire shakes her head. “Oh no, no worry there.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, nothing is funny at all actually,” Claire murmurs. “I’ve never worried about it. Being around humans is easy for me.”
“You have your shifting under that much control?” Damien inquires. “You eat a lot of kiej?”
She shakes her head, “Honestly….no, not at all.”
“You must have great discipline then,” Damien retorts. “That is amazing.”
“Not so amazing actually, let’s just say it’s easy for me. Can we talk about something else please?” Claire asks, forcing a smile.
Nodding, Damien replies, “Sure, what would you like to talk about?”
“Well, what can we expect here? What fun….activities….are planned?”
“Actually, pretty much whatever you want. There are workshops for all sorts of things. There is a pool down the hill. It’s massive, high diving board and everything.”
“Workshops, what do you mean?” Claire asks.
He shrugs and says, “There are activities for everything: art and sports and whatever else you could be interested in. Didn’t you get a pamphlet?”
“You think I actually looked at that?” Claire laughs.
“Well, how are you going to know what you want to do?” Damien inquires, raising his eyebrows.
“I have my hobbies and they don’t necessarily always involve other people.”
With a slight nod, Damien says, “Okay, what activities are you into?”
“Physical, anything physical, the more physical the better,” Claire replies. Damien half way spits out his soda. She glares at him. “I didn’t mean it that way, pervert.”
“Well, there are a lot of guys here to get physical with if that’s your thing,” Damien retorts with a grin.
“Oh, they would not want to get physical with me,” Claire snorts.
His eyebrow goes up. “Are you some freak or something? Like things dirty, tying boys up and everything?”
Claire giggles into a fit. “No, no, no, no! That is hilarious. No, I’m very athletic and I don’t find many guys who can keep up with me.”
“I think if you found the right boy, he could,” Damien replies, smiling.
“There are four people who can keep up with me in my life. My trainer, my brother and his two friends.”