Her Undercover Panther : A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance

by Jasmine White

  “I guess that’s one way to look at it,” she said, letting herself lean into his chest.

  His arms went around her and he held her close, the two of them silently mourning their friend Martin. Luis’s body was hot against hers, his arms so strong around her that she felt safe and secure, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the enemy. She knew without a doubt that Eric was a bad guy, but the others she wasn’t so sure about. The only two people that she knew she could trust were Andrew and Luis. Everyone else could be in on it with GRE, or they could be victims like Martin and some of the others. She didn’t know, so she had to assume that she was surrounded and that the only safe place was with Luis.

  “What are you thinking about right now?” Luis asked, gathering her closer, his hand resting on her scar again, and his touch somehow healing wounds she hadn’t known were still open from ten years ago.

  “Me?” she asked, trying to give herself a moment to come up with something better than I feel so safe in your arms. “I’m thinking that we should hit the beach before the sun sets.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Tara put on the thong sandals Luis had bought her, and they walked hand in hand to the wooden walkway that led the final few yards to the beach.

  “How far are we going to go?” she asked quietly. The air was still, and she noticed that their voices carried, even though the ocean waves should have muted their voices instead.

  “I figured that we could walk and you could point out shells you like and I’ll put them in my pockets for you.”

  “What are we really doing?”

  “I’m going to show you some of the points of interest in this area so you can have a look and see if anything peaks your interest.”

  “You don’t think we’ll find anything?”

  “I don’t, but you might see something that I don’t.”

  “Good call.”

  “Arnold trusts your judgment,” he said, squeezing her hand, “and so do I.”

  “That means a lot. I know that he respects you a lot.”

  Reaching the edge of the walkway that led to the sand, Tara pulled her sandals off and stepped onto the sand barefoot. Even though the sun was starting to make its final descent toward the horizon, the sand was still warm. She enjoyed the feel of the warm sand beneath her feet almost as much as the smell of the ocean spray in the salty sea air. They walked north along the beach, the oceans waves lapping the shore a few feet from their left as they went. She stopped, bent down to pick up a shell, and handed it to Luis.

  “This one is called a lightning whelk,” he said. “I’ll set it on that rock over by the path that leads to the jungle, and we can get it when we pass back through.”

  They kept walking, the conversation light as they did. Luis shared stories of his childhood growing up in Virginia near the edge of a national park where he was free to run at night.

  “So you’re a WerePanther, right?”

  “Yes. I suppose Arnold told you?”

  “He did. He didn’t tell me much more about you, but I know enough to know that he trusts you with his life and mine.”

  “Do you?”

  “I really do. And not just because Arnold told me that I could. I know we got off to a rough start, but there’s something about you that makes me feel safe. Maybe it’s because I had a really good experience with Martin, but I don’t think it’s only that. I think that you’re just a really nice guy with a good heart.”

  “Now you’re just being nice,” he said.

  “I really mean it,” she said.

  She looked up at him, smiling at his sweet face framed so perfectly by his black hair. His eyes were the most unique shade of hazel she’d ever seen. Almost honey brown in color with just the faintest hint of green in the center and dark all the way around the outside of the iris.

  She felt a twinge of something, but she brushed it off. Luis was a handsome, virile man who shared relationships with her, even if they didn’t know Martin and Andrew at the same time or in the same capacity. She had shared her deepest secret with him, and he hadn’t been repulsed the way other men had been. He saw her scar as proof that she was strong, not a blemish on an otherwise perfectly feminine body. For the first time in her life, she had donned a bikini without a cover up, and she felt empowered rather than exposed. Of course she felt a twinge of attraction. Why wouldn’t she? Maybe once they were done with their mission, she’d invite him for a no-strings roll in the hay, a kind of friends with benefits thing to relieve all the tension and celebrate their triumph over evil. It wasn’t like she would be risking anything; Luis was happy here, and Tara had a life in America. They would go into it knowing that it could never be serious, saving face for both of them and preventing heartbreak.

  Satisfied with her plan, Tara tore her eyes away from his and tugged his hand gently as she continued down the beach.

  “Where is this interesting place you want to show me?” she asked, ignoring his quizzical look.

  “Just before the beach swings to the right a little, you should be able to see another wooden walkway. That goes back a few yards to the Forbidden Jungle.”

  “And what’s interesting about that, besides that it’s forbidden?”

  “Other than the fact that it’s how two of the women escaped with two shifters, not much.”

  “So Martin was the only one caught?”

  “As far as I know. Four people escaped the island, and Martin did not.”

  His expression was grim.

  “I’m so sorry about Martin. I can see that his loss hurts you as much as it does me,” she said. She stopped just before the wooden pathway, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a comforting hug. “He was a good man.”

  “He was a great man,” Luis confirmed, returning her hug and then pulling away. “The pathway is rough; you’ll need shoes.”

  She nodded and put her sandals back on before following him down the path lined on either side with fruit-bearing trees of all shapes and sizes.

  Luis pulled a small, bright pink fruit off the tree and handed it to her.

  “Taste this,” he said, breaking it open to reveal the white flesh inside.

  “What is this?”

  “Dragon fruit.”

  He took half for himself and left her the rest. She took a tentative bite as they walked, then another when she tasted the sweet fruit.

  “This is really good.”

  “This is one of the things that I love about living here. There is everything you could need to survive: food, shelter, everything. When they first brought me here, I was angry. But now that I’ve lived here, I love this place and consider it my home.”

  “Do you miss where you grew up?”

  “Sometimes. Virginia is a beautiful state, but nothing in America rivals the beauty of the Amazon and the jungles of South America.”

  Looking around, Tara had to agree with him. She’d only been to Virginia a few times, but she knew that nothing in America looked anything like this island. If she felt at home here, she would be hard pressed to find a reason to leave.

  “This island is beautiful. It’s easy to forget why I’m here.”

  “I understand. But here we are now, if you want to see where the issue started.”

  He pointed to a sign at the edge of the dense jungle before them, right in front of where the path took a sharp, right turn to head back around toward the resort.

  “They really call it the Forbidden Jungle? No wonder people wanted to get a good look.”

  “Humans are very nosy by nature.”

  “Shifters aren’t inquisitive?” she asked, ducking between the ropes that were meant to keep out the human guests but were completely pointless for anyone with even the mildest curiosity. Maybe someone who hated getting even a parking ticket would be stopped by the sign and two strands of rope, but Tara was willing to lay money that most of the rich and powerful women that the resort attracted weren’t used to playing by anyone’s rules but their own. “If this
is so dangerous, why isn’t it better protected?”

  Luis smiled, following her in a short distance and putting a hand to her shoulder protectively. She looked at him, confused, but saw that he wasn’t looking at her. She followed his gaze and gasped when she saw what he was looking at.

  “Are they going to attack us?” she whispered, embarrassed when her voice cracked.

  “No. They can’t get any closer. There is an electric fence buried around the entire jungle. We’re standing directly on it, so for them to get even within ten feet of us would be excruciating for them. Since most women hesitate when they come through the barrier, they’re not quite to the buried fence when they spot the men who are on their break and usually in jungle cat form.”

  “And the rest of the women?”

  “That’s one of the things I wanted to show you. There are women who make it farther in before they notice that they’re in danger.”

  “What happens to them?”

  “The shifters in the jungle are running wild and free. They’re a little more rowdy than the companions in the resort. They usually capture the women.”

  “Do they hurt them?”

  “No, but that’s where the trafficking comes in. If the women pair up with them-”

  “You mean, have sex.”

  “I mean fall in love and are bound by their souls to the shifter, then they will not leave without the shifter. Since shifters cannot leave the island, the women are forced to stay here, and they’re moved to the island across the way, there in the distance. Isla Escondida is where all of the humans live with their shifter mates. They can’t leave because they are paired and the pain of leaving their shifter is too much. So GRE effectively owns them, and you have these powerful women who are now captives.”

  “And then they’re roped into experiments, and GRE uses them to build a better shifter and better humans through eugenics, gene splicing, and the like?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do the shifters even know that this is a possibility when they capture the women?”

  “No. Off the supplements and male birth control, they have a period of time where they can only think about one thing. They’re not in their right minds, and any logic they would possess is lost in favor of capturing and pleasing the woman. It’s only after they are moved that the shifters are aware. Since the shifters who live on this island aren’t allowed on the other island, there’s no way for them to know what they’re doing until it’s much too late.”

  “So GRE is fooling everyone and people end up with no choice?”

  “Exactly. We should move back. If one of them enjoys your scent enough, he might be willing to risk getting a nasty shock to get to you.”

  “Oh,” she said, backing away while his hand on her shoulder guided her, wondering for the briefest of moments if her hand-to-hand combat training would do a thing to a giant jungle cat. She knew that it wouldn’t.

  When they got back to the rope, then and only then did Tara breathe a sigh of relief.

  “That was terrifying but also a little exciting. I can see why this is set up this way. They just as easily could have started the Forbidden Jungle much farther away from the resort and made it more impossible to get to.”

  “That’s exactly why they did it this way. Come back to the beach. We don’t want to get caught over here.”

  “Why didn’t it hurt you to be so close to the buried fence?” she asked, putting her hand in his and walking back the way they’d come. She looked over her shoulder one more time, but the cats in the jungle were already out of sight.

  “I was never chipped like the others. There are only five of us with no chips: the man you saw on the other boat, myself, Eric, and two other men that I don’t really know all that well.”

  “Did they tell you why you were chosen to be trusted?”

  “Not really. I always assumed that it had to do with my service.”

  They were to the beach again, and Tara stooped down to remove her sandals. She tossed them up onto the grassy area surrounding the resort that ended abruptly at the soft sand.

  “Do you mind if we walk near the water? I haven’t felt the Pacific swirl around my ankles in years. I miss it more than I’d realized.”

  “Of course.”

  “So, how did they escape if everyone is chipped and they were in the Forbidden Jungle?”

  “There’s a waterfall near the north side of the island. The igneous rocks are hard and buried deep within the soil. When the electric fence was buried, they weren’t able to bury it there.”

  He stopped at the water’s edge, pulling his jeans off and letting them fall to the ground as he took his shirt off and tossed it onto his jeans. Tara resisted the urge to cover her eyes when she saw that he was wearing one of the leather thongs that covered only his manhood.

  “You’re practically naked,” she said softly, blushing furiously.

  “I’m sure you will see me naked at some point during this. Remember, we’re supposed to be enjoying each other thoroughly.”

  “How could I forget?”

  She let him lead her to the water’s edge, picking up the conversation where they had left off before he’d started stripping on the beach in the waning light of the late afternoon sun.

  “So the fence has a giant hole in it?” she asked, incredulous. “Why have a fence at all?”

  “It takes days over rough terrain to get there. And the opening is very small with the range of the chips. So they would have to find the exact spot where the signal is weak before going through. Remember, most, if not all of us, are happy here, so there’s really no reason to escape.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” She sucked in a quick breath suddenly when the water lapped at her feet, and then she smiled wide. “This is what I was missing,” she said, putting an arm around his waist and walking a little deeper into the water.

  “I’m glad to see that you don’t find me as horrid as you did this morning,” he said, wrapping his arm around her and picking her up to avoid a stingray in the shallows before setting her down again.

  “Thank you. I didn’t see it.”

  “You forgot to shuffle your feet to avoid them.”

  “I did. I’m glad you were here to save me. I’ve heard that it’s a painful sting.” She turned to face him, holding both his hands in hers and looking deep into his eyes. “I’m sorry I was so unpleasant this morning. I’m so used to men treating me like I’m fragile because of my looks or like I’m a nitwit because I’m blonde.”

  “Neither of those could be further from the truth. Even I know that, and I’ve only just met you. How can the men you work with be so asinine?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you should come to the office in Fort Worth and tell them how ridiculous they are.”

  He laughed.

  “I don’t know if cowboy boots and horses are really my thing.”

  Tara stood back and looked him up and down.

  “You could make them your thing,” she said, admiring his body openly.

  “Maybe I should put my clothes back on,” he said, a crooked smile tugging his lips.

  “Let’s go deeper. Are there a lot of sharks here?”

  “Not many. The water drops off not far from here, and the sharks seem to prefer the gradual shallows of the east side of the island.”

  “Good to know,” she said, tugging his hand and going out into the water until they were waist deep. She pulled him close, standing on her tiptoes and pecking him shyly on the cheek.

  “What was that for?”

  She shrugged.

  “For saving me from the stingray and just for being patient with all this. I know you wanted a man to partner with you.”

  “I’m sorry that I said that. I really just wanted to work with someone who was going to be able to work without swooning over being next to a shifter. You might think that we always love it, but the magnetism that makes women fawn over us can be exhausting. But you have some kind of power over it, and you�
�re not bothered by being close to me. It’s a welcome change, and better than I’d hoped for.”

  Tara wanted to laugh, but his words made her feel self-conscious about the thoughts she’d been entertaining just a few moments before. Was it his magnetism, or was Tara really starting to feel attracted to this man?

  Tara lowered herself back onto her heels, took a step back, and stumbled over a large, smooth rock beneath the water’s surface. She windmilled her arms in an effort to catch herself, but she was already falling. Luis reached out to grab her, but he missed, bent over double, and started laughing as she stood up, soaked from head to toe.

  “What is so funny?” she laughed, putting her fists on her hips and leveling a playful glare at him.

  “Your face. Like you were falling off a cliff. The water is shallow here.”

  “I was caught off-guard. You were supposed to save me.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He was still laughing, and Tara was struggling to keep from joining him. She was sure it was a funny sight—the tough, ass-kicking FBI agent losing her cool tripping over backward in waist-deep water.

  She cupped her hands and flung handfuls of water at him, drenching his face and choking off his laughter. He stopped, his face serious for a moment except for the twinkle in his eyes. He took a step forward, and she turned and fled, squealing with laughter as he chased her. His hands were around her waist in an instant, yanking her off her feet and tossing her into a gentle wave. She went under the water, a bright yellow fish darting by her face a moment before she got her feet under herself and stood up.