by Bonnie Vanak
“We’re stuck here together and I need your help getting off this island. If this man is determined to trap us, can we leave? You said you had other boats. Are they nearby?”
“What were you and the girls doing on the dock?”
Softness laced the steely words. When she didn’t answer, he stepped behind her and placed his palms on her shoulders. His touch was gentle, but she sensed his determination. He would have answers.
“I told you, you’re safe here. I won’t hurt you.” His fingers began to knead her muscles, sending delicious heat spiraling through her body. Earlier tension evaporated, replaced by sensual need. Her head tilted back like a sunflower seeking warmth.
Gabriel wrapped his arms around her waist. Power was in those strong limbs. He bent his head, warm breath feathering over her cheek.
“Tell me, Megan.”
“The boats were useless, anyway.” She trembled with sudden need.
“I know. I disabled them to keep you here.” She quivered with anticipation as his mouth nuzzled her neck.
Struggling to keep her thoughts straight, Megan stiffened. “Hope you didn’t disable the inflatables, too. Where are they?”
“In a safe place, chère.”
“Are you sure? Maybe I can help you secure them before the storm.” A low moan escaped her as his fingers stroked over the sides of her neck.
“No.”
His hands anchored her to him. His hard male body was filled with enormous power. Yet the hands now splayed over her belly were gentle and his lips tracing a line down to her collarbone were soft and warm.
A different hardness pressed into her backside. A whimper of erotic pleasure tore from her throat as his hands drifted lower, palming her lower belly, pressing her against his erection.
A vision arose in her mind. She was naked on all fours as Gabriel knelt behind her, his large hands on her hips, his face etched with ruthless intent as he took her in the traditional position of a wolf claiming its mate….
Megan slammed a door on the image. Never.
Trying to regain her lost composure, she jerked out of his embrace. How could she feel this way about her jailer?
“Stop doing this to me,” she whispered.
Amber burned in his dark eyes. “Doing what, chère?”
“Making me want you. The vision you put in my mind, me, you, naked together.”
A muscle clenched in his taut jaw. “That wasn’t me.”
Stunned, she stared. “How can I know you’re not manipulating me? You’re not forcing me to feel like this?”
“I wouldn’t,” he said quietly. “I may be many things, but I’d never force you mentally or any other way. Megan, you have nothing to fear from me. Soon, you will come to trust in that.”
“I’ve had others tell me the same. Why should I believe you won’t hurt me, Enforcer?”
“Because when I find the one who left those bruises, and I will find him, I’ll do this to him or anyone else who dares to touch you.”
He plucked out a heavy paving stone from the pathway. A chill raced down her spine as he crushed it in one hand. Caught by the increasing wind, the powder blew away.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, not anymore. But I will promise you this. That sonofabitch will pay for your pain.”
Gabriel dusted off his hands and jogged away.
Numb with shock, she stared at the missing paver. Gabriel was no ordinary Draicon. He was more than a dangerous adversary. He was lethal to anyone opposing him.
Who was Gabriel Robichaux and what secrets did he hide?
Chapter 5
As night fell, the hurricane began battering the tiny island. Wind whistled through the trees and thunder crackled and boomed.
Megan let out a small gasp as a thick branch hit the roof. The news magazine she’d been reading fell to the couch beside her.
Lying on the floor, Gabriel looked up from the board game he played with Jillian and Jennifer. He felt her anxiety as if she’d telegraphed it, just as he’d felt it on the beach when she’d seen him run as wolf. Stupid of him to release his beast, but fortunately Megan had little contact with Draicon.
She could never guess his secret.
“Don’t worry, chère. This cottage, she’s built like a tank.”
After the rain began, trepidation replaced the twins’ excitement about the oncoming storm. He’d coaxed them to help cook one of his Cajun specialties. After dinner he taught them Wii bowling.
Now he was successfully losing at Monopoly.
“The roof on our house leaks so much that we can’t sleep because all our beds get soaked. I patched it with tarps and duct tape, but it didn’t help. Still, it’s better than sleeping out on the beach,” Megan told him.
He could feel his wolf clawing to the surface. Gabriel tipped his cowboy hat down, hiding the telltale flash in his eyes.
Your eyes, oh Gabriel, what’s happening with your eyes?
“Duct tape? Not a hammer and roofing nails?” He rolled the dice.
“Shadows aren’t permitted anything that can be used as a weapon. If you want something fixed, you put your name on a waiting list for a licensed repairman. It’s a very long list, unless you pay a lot of money to have your name moved up.”
“When did this start?”
Megan frowned. “When Governor Sacks changed the rules four years ago. He wasn’t so bad before. I guess he got greedy, seeing the chance to make a profit as he split bribes with licensed repairmen. And…other things.”
He moved his car token on the board to Jillian’s smug smile. “Boardwalk,” she crowed, holding out her hand. “Ten hundred million dollars, please.”
“You’re a very demanding landlord.”
“Someone has to pay to get our roof fixed,” Jennifer told him.
Gabriel shelled out the correct amount of bills to Jillian. “Have you gone through official channels and filed a formal complaint with the council?”
“Those fools? Shadows have no rights,” Megan said as she thumbed through the magazine. “No books or magazines, either. Nothing to read, except what we can buy on the black market.”
“What do you do for fun?”
A yearning entered her blue eyes. “We’re too busy moving for fun. I’ve always dreamed of having a real home like this.” Megan tossed aside the magazine. “It’s just a dream. Maybe, someday.”
Jennifer rolled and selected a card from the stack. Her face wrinkled as she studied the words and she scrambled to her feet. “Megan, what does it say?”
“It’s a Get out of Jail Free card. Save it, sweetie. Very valuable.”
“Jenny, can’t you read?” he asked.
“A little. Megan teaches us, even though she’s not supposed to.” Jennifer clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m not supposed to say. If anyone finds out, they’ll punish us. Shadows can’t go to school.”
Megan tensed until Gabriel offered a small smile. “It’s okay, Jenny. I won’t tell.”
Still, she didn’t lose her wariness. She reminded him of a wild animal caught in a trap. Megan shifted, the move accentuating the thrust of her breasts against the T-shirt. There was nothing overtly sexual about it, yet he felt a hard kick of desire.
Gabriel stretched out his long legs. For years he’d dealt with female Shadows without any intense reaction. When he’d seen her on the beach, his wolf wanted to mark her as his own. The urge overrode common sense.
Around Megan, he’d nearly lost control. It was almost as if she was…
She couldn’t be his destined mate. Long ago, he’d thought the same of another woman and it had landed him in trouble. He stopped seeking emotional intimacy. Still, he sent a gentle probe into her mind, testing to see if the bond was there. When he met a blank wall, he felt a curious mixture of relief and disappointment.
He didn’t want a destined mate, who would hold the missing half of his magick. Hell, bonding with him was lethal. Most Draicon yearned to find their mates and exchange powers during
a sexual mating lock. But how could he share his powers and turn his mate into something dark and dangerous?
His brothers had mates and even Alex was dating again. Gabriel quietly resigned himself to being alone forever. Sometimes the loneliness was a crushing weight, but it was better for all.
The rain finally eased and the crashes of thunder moved away. When the girls began yawning, Megan glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel.
“Time for bed,” she told them.
Gabriel stood, scooped a twin under each arm as his hat tumbled to the floor. They giggled as he jogged to the back bedroom. It had single beds with clean white sheets turned down for the night.
“Gabriel, can you read us a story?” Jenny called.
At the doorway, he stared at the cozy scene of two identical girls dressed in green pajamas sitting in their beds. A lump lodged in his throat. Amelia, the red ribbon in her curls matching her candy-striped pajamas. Expectation dancing on her face as she held out her favorite storybook. Alex mock-punching him in the arm. “Go on, Gabe, read to her. Good practice for when you become a father.”
Shaking the vision free, he forced a smile. “Megan should do it.”
With exact control, he headed into the kitchen. Cooking always made him feel human. Gabriel washed sweet peppers and onions and set them aside. A frown touched his brow as he scanned his prize collection of knives.
The butcher knife was missing.
A delicate floral scent drifted into the kitchen. Gabriel faced the doorway. Light gleamed off the sharp steel blade in Megan’s hand. Her entire body tensed like a stretched rubber band. The acid stench of her fear swam in his nostrils.
“Come toward me slowly with your hands raised. No shifting, no quick moves. I can shift into Shadow and stab you before you know what hit you.”
“Do you really want to hurt me, chère?”
“Shut up.” She gestured with the butcher knife. “Over there, by the fridge.”
He moved slowly as to not alarm her.
“Now put your hands behind you.”
When she took out several zip ties from her pocket, he had to admire her inventiveness. “Take those from my tool bag?”
Suddenly she vanished. Gabriel jerked his head around.
She was gone.
He felt a prick at his throat, then something slip around his wrists, looping to the fridge doors behind him.
A voice spoke close to his ear. “Jillian did. Why do you think she went looking for you?”
“Using a child to do something this deceptive. Ah, Megan, I’m disappointed.” He didn’t bother to test the cuffs. If needed, he could break free in a heartbeat. Instead, he tracked her scent to the counter and watched her reappear. In her hands she held a heavy silver fork wrapped in a dish towel. Megan slid the fork between the cufflinks and his hands and tossed the towel aside.
“The cuffs won’t hold you, but the silver will drain your powers.”
No, he thought. It took more than a fork to affect his kind. More like a cafeteria filled with silver.
“Why now, Megan? Why not try before the hurricane?”
“I told you, the girls can’t swim and I’m not risking their lives. I’ll do whatever I can to keep them safe. They’re all I have, understand? And you’re not going to hurt them, and neither is anyone else. They deserve a life.”
The vulnerability shadowing her face turned his heart over. “And you don’t? What about your needs, Megan?”
She dragged in a tremulous breath. “I just want to save them. It’s too late for me,” she whispered.
Gabriel’s guts clenched. “You’re only twenty-six. So much pain I see inside your eyes. Who hurt you, chère? Who hurt you this badly?”
Her lower lip wobbled. Her thoughts flashed bright as a sun flare. I can’t trust anyone. No one gives a damn about me.
A fierce scowl tightened her face. “Stop doing that. You know, reading my mind.”
“Can’t help it. Your thoughts are like a tiger prowling in the bayou. They stand out.”
Immediately he got an image of a brick wall. Megan turned ashen as Gabriel silently cursed. He had to win her trust. He sent her a reassuring image of a waterfall surrounded by children laughing and frolicking. For an instant, the bricks slowly toppled downward, as if hit by a heavy sledgehammer. He seized his chance and locked her mind to his, forcing his thoughts upon her.
Don’t be afraid.
Go away. The thought was shrill inside his head.
You know these won’t hold me. I can snap out of them before you make it to the kitchen door. C’mon chère, work with me. I promise you, I’ll keep you safe.
I’m a fool if I believe you.
Do you really think I’d let you risk your life in this storm?
I’d cut my own throat with that knife before I allowed that to happen, because I vowed to always take care of my own.
That thought startled the hell out of him. Gabriel went still, shocked by the fierce declaration. A nagging suspicion flared. Megan was an assignment. A Shadow needing help. Yet he’d never felt such intensity. Not even with the woman who’d run from him screaming a full century before.
“Take these cuffs off,” he urged.
“No.” She backed away, the knife lowered. She was feeling the shock, as well.
Gabriel tried for humor. “I could rip off the doors to free myself, but chère, this fridge, Alex is still paying for it and he’d kill me.”
“Please, don’t make me do this.” The plea was a faint whisper. The knife clattered to the tile floor, echoing in the sudden silence.
His heart thudded against his chest. When her thoughts surfaced, Gabriel seized the moment. The strong ties binding his wrist snapped like thread. He stepped forward, staring down into her eyes.
He pulled her into his arms. She went without resistance. She felt good, soft and giving, and yet her femininity hid a core of steel.
Steel forged by hellfire, by pain. If he could, he’d remove her pain.
Cupping her face in his warm palms, he kissed her gently, oh so gently. Megan’s eyes closed. Encouraged, he deepened the kiss.
A shock surged through him, as if electrical current sizzled through the fusing contact of their mouths. It made any kiss he’d ever experienced feel tame. Jerking away, Megan rubbed her mouth. Shock dawned in her eyes.
“No,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he breathed. He slid a trembling hand around the nape of her neck, pulled her forward and kissed her again.
This time, she clutched his shoulders, nails digging into his shirt. Pleasure and pain mingled as he swept his tongue inside her mouth, seeking, finding, holding her. Claiming her with his mouth, staking his mark on her. Her soft, pliant body trembled as he reversed positions and pushed her against the cool, hard steel. He felt her breasts and their pearl-hard nipples press against him as she drank in his mouth. She smelled warm and sweet, and he inhaled deeply, drawing her scent into his lungs.
Beneath the urgent pressure of his mouth, Megan made a low sound. He released her, panting raggedly, staring into the dark blueness of eyes shining with confusion and desire.
Gabriel fisted his hands as thunder suddenly crashed and wind pushed against the tight enclosure of the shutters.
Megan was no ordinary Shadow.
She was his destined mate. The female he was to bond with, who would know all his intimate secrets as she knew his body.
He was in deep trouble.
Chapter 6
Her draicaron, her destined mate, was an Enforcer?
Megan wiped her kiss-swollen mouth with a shaking hand. “Get out,” she said in a dull voice.
Amber flashed in his eyes as he reached out to her. His hand dropped. Wordlessly he stalked out of the kitchen.
She sagged down to the tile floor and slammed a fist against her thigh, trying to escape the sensual memory of his hot kiss. If Gabriel were cruel, she’d sense it. He’d shown nothing but kindness and consideration since their capture.
Megan scented pine and rain and glanced up.
Gabriel stood in the doorway. A key dangled from his fingers.
“The shed is in the back.”
Confused, she scrambled to her feet. “You’re an Enforcer and you’re letting me go? How can I trust you?”
“You have little choice. And I’m not letting you go.” He went to her, opened her palm, dropped the key inside. “This is yours for safekeeping, to show you I mean no harm. I’m here to help you, Megan.”
“You can’t be my destined mate.” She gave a brittle laugh like cracked glass. “You stand for everything I hate about Draicon. You capture my people and enforce laws that bind us.”
“That’s what you’ve been told.” He clasped his hands around her closed palm. “The stories precede me. Is any one of us who he appears to be?”
“Who are you?”
He tensed, and she felt a surge of his power. “Someone who will get you to safety. And not just because you’re mine.”
“I’m not yours,” she protested, pocketing the key.
Gabriel leaned closer, pinning her against the refrigerator. He cupped her face in his hands. “Yes, you are.”
This time his kiss was warm and authoritative, his mouth possessing her. Megan sighed as he coaxed her to open to him.
If she wasn’t careful, this dangerous Draicon could creep into her heart. She had longed for love and acceptance, but how could she share a life with a man who detested her race?
“You’re still innocent,” he murmured, breaking the kiss. “Good. I don’t think I’d deal kindly with any man who came before me.”
“How can you tell?”
He gave her a sensual look that made the space between her legs throb wildly. “Your scent. It’s delicious, layered with traces of wildflowers and honey. I can’t smell another male.”
Now her cheeks began to burn. “I saved myself for someone I loved. Not a destined mate.” Someone who can love me for who I am.
Gabriel ran a thumb across her flushed cheek. “You can’t fight instinct. When the time comes, I’ll treat you right.”
“You’re talking as you’ll be my first.”