“What is dumpster diving?” Bridgit looked worried. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. It doesn’t require a bathing suit, does it?”
“Oh, Grasshopper, I have much to teach you. And now I’m going to go get some more tequila, because apparently somebody didn’t learn how to share when they were growing up.”
Tonya and Bridgit headed back to the bar.
Tonya’s phone chirped, and she raised an eyebrow. Tom Hooper was sending her a text.
Call me now – and be ready to pack your bags. I’ve got the story of the century for you.
* * *
“You are absolutely sure that you can pull this off.” Alexander was nervous. He had called the Chameleon for reassurance, even though they’d been over this a dozen times.
If this failed, it would be his head. Literally.
“There’s a reason that you came to me, right?” said the tinny voice on the other end of the line. The Chameleon always used a voice scrambler for all communications. “You know my reputation. I never fail.”
The assassin known as The Chameleon never met with employers in person. Literally nobody in the world knew what the Chameleon looked like. What everybody knew was that the Chameleon never failed, and could take out any target, no matter the level of their security. Kings, heads of state, billionaires, heads of multinational corporations…the Chameleon had taken them all out.
“How do you do it?” Alexander asked, fascinated.
“Trade secret,” the tinny voice said. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
Alexander let out a hollow laugh. Very funny.
“You understand how much security will be on that boat,” he said. “They will check everyone’s identity, verify every single person from the captain down to the galley chefs and room stewards and engineers.”
“We have been over this before, in great detail,” the Chameleon said, with an edge of impatience that came through even with the voice scrambler. “I thrive on setbacks. I always turn them to my advantage, and having security on this ship actually works to my advantage in this case.”
“How?” Alexander demanded.
“I never reveal my methods. Now stop harassing me with your insulting queries, and let me do my job.”
“All right,” Alexander said. “I look forward to reading the tragic news in the papers.”
“My condolences on your loss. In advance,” said the voice on the other end, with a tinny laugh.
“Good luck.”
“I won’t need it.” And the connection cut off.
Chapter Four
“This is the dream assignment,” the Beast gloated as they headed towards the briefing room. “Karma is rewarding me. I must have been really good in another life.”
“Maybe. Certainly not this one.” Heath couldn’t help but grin, however. The Beast’s enthusiasm was contagious. And he was right; this was the dream assignment.
A week on a floating pleasure palace known as the Shangri-La of the Seas, where they would be undercover posing as millionaire passengers. They would be catered to, pampered, and have their pick of the hundreds of beautiful women who were hired to provide “companionship” for the wealthy clientele on the hedonistic cruise ship. There were plenty of beautiful male companions too, but that wasn’t Heath’s thing.
And even better, there was very likely an assassin on the boat – or so rumor had it – which was why Shifters, Inc. had been hired to discreetly take care of the problem.
They sat down at the conference table. The room was filling up with operatives who’d been called in for the assignment, and Jake, their team leader, was sitting at the head of the table. The massive computer screen mounted on the wall at the far end of the room had been turned on and there were rows of driver’s license pictures scrolling across the screen.
Sex and violence and danger – that was exactly what Heath needed to take his mind off Tonya. He’d even dreamed about her last night, damn it. He’d dreamed of kissing her soft thighs, working his way up them, listening to her moans of pleasure…
He wrenched his thoughts away from her with considerable effort and slid his chair in closer to the table. Just thinking of her gave him a hard-on these days.
“So,” said Jake, “the cruise company only found out about the possible threat today, and they still don’t know who the potential target will be. An assassin was arrested yesterday by Interpol, and he gave up information in exchange for being spared the death penalty. Apparently, over the past few weeks somebody has approached a few of the top assassins in the world to take out a target who will be on the Shangri La of the Seas, which is departing tomorrow morning for a one-week cruise. ”
“And the target is?” asked Tanner Collins, a wolf shifter.
“If only we knew. The informant wasn’t told, because the assignment ended up going to someone known as the Chameleon. However, he did gather that the intent of the assassination was to cause turbulence and discord. He wasn’t sure whether it was in the target’s home country or corporation, but we have managed to narrow down the most likely victims to a list of three.”
He tapped the computer screen in front of him, and three pictures on the wall-mounted screen popped up.
Jake pointed at the one on the left. “Reshef, a member of the ruling family of the small, oil-rich country of Ohfretar. His younger brother, the family favorite, currently holds the throne there. His brother is a moderate, and a friend to shifters in a country which is traditionally prejudiced against us. Reshef is a far-right radical who is not particularly friendly to shifters, but if he were assassinated it might destabilize the region. Heath, you’ll be in the suite down the hall from his. The ship offered everyone extra security, for free, saying that it’s a perk for their clientele, but Reshef turned it down. He has numerous bodyguards of his own and was apparently insulted by the implication that his security isn’t good enough.”
“And we have to protect this a-hole?” Heath grumbled.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Jake pointed at the next picture on the screen. “Tanner, you will be nextdoor to Duncan Rowland. He’s the CEO and founder of a company that manufactures microchips, and he’s apparently developing a smaller, faster microchip that may bankrupt several of his rivals. He’s had his fair share of lawsuits, accusations of patent theft, paternity suits, top models clawing each other’s faces over who’s really his girlfriend…also an arrogant douche, from what I’ve heard.”
“Levi, we’re assigning you to keep an eye on Benedetta Di Costa. From what we hear about her, you will be exactly her type.” The Beast looked at the picture of the stunning Italian woman, with her sensual, pouty red lips, sulky expression and smoldering dark eyes. She had shiny black ringlets of hair cascading over her shoulders and halfway down her back. “You may get as close to her as you like. The closer you are, the more protection you’ll be able to offer.”
The Beast grinned.
“Benedetta is the heir to a fashion empire, but her brothers and sisters are fighting her for control of the company. They are trying to challenge the terms of her late father’s will and seize her shares in the company. Her death would give them control of a billion-dollar fashion empire. ”
“Don’t worry. I will stay very close to her.” The Beast smirked as he said it.
“So just to be clear, he gets the hot chick and we get the assholes?” Tanner grumbled, looking at the screen.
“Sounds fair.” The Beast nodded with satisfaction.
Jake ignored Heath and Tanner’s growls and kept talking. “This is important. Once we leave port, it’s radio silence out there – we will not be able to communicate with anyone on shore until we reach our destination, unless it’s a life or death situation. The owners of the Shangri-La offer their guests an environment where they can indulge their wildest fantasies in privacy. Guests not only sign a non-disclosure agreement, they have to surrender their technology when they check onto the boat, no photographs are allowed, and no radioing,
calling, texting, emailing, et cetera, for the duration. You will of course be able to meet up with me, discreetly, on the boat, to give me your reports each day. You’ll also be checking in with Pierre Robard, the ship’s head of security.”
Heath and Tanner grumbled mutinously over their assignments, while the Beast gloated and Jake continued to outline each team member’s assignments.
Privately, Heath thought that the ship owners should just cancel the cruise, but apparently there was too much money on the line.
The next morning, Heath was driven to the boat in a limo, in keeping with his cover. He was posing as a rich playboy from Los Angeles, with inherited wealth. He’d been provided with the wardrobe to match – hand-tailored linen suits, hand-sewn raw silk shirts, Italian leather shoes. He had no idea how they’d managed to pull together that kind of wardrobe to fit his bulky size so fast, but he knew that the owners of the Shangri-La were sparing no expense to keep their passengers and their reputation safe.
On board the boat, he quickly checked in. Ocean view cabin. Nice. He had a suite the size of a small apartment, with livingroom, generously sized kitchen, and a bedroom dominated by a massive mahogany four-poster bed. The sheets and comforter were silky red satin. The wall was adorned with classical paintings of Bacchanalian orgies.
There were already fur-lined leather cuffs on chains attached to each of the four posts. In a normal hotel room, a guest might expect to find chocolates on their pillow. On his bed, he found a black silk blindfold mask, a riding crop, a box of sensual flavored oils, a flogger, a vibrator and nipple clamps, fanned out across the blanket. There was a well-stocked bar with cut crystal glasses. No expense had been spared.
After putting away his clothing, he quickly headed out to explore the ship. It was massive, towering many stories high, and decorated in a tropical theme. He headed to the Hawaii Deck.
Calypso music floated through the air from speakers hidden in the palm trees. The lush foliage around the bars and restaurants created a realistic-looking jungle. There were beautiful men and women everywhere, and they were not shy about expressing their interest as they watched Heath stroll by. It was easy to tell the companions, because they wore leis of different colors and Hawaiian-print bikinis or trunks.
Passengers and companions were pairing off all over. There were wicker beds with mattresses scattered around, and broad lounge chairs that could easily accommodate two or more. On the Shangri-La, public displays of eroticism weren’t just permitted, they were encouraged.
A tanned, well-oiled man who looked to be in his forties was reclining in a lounge chair with his shorts down around his ankles. A beautiful blonde knelt between his legs, taking his cock deep into her mouth and caressing his balls. His head was thrown back, eyes closed, and he groaned in pleasure, fingers tangled in her hair. “Oh yes, darling. You suck me so good. Just like that. Yes…” he groaned. An almond- eyed Asian woman sat on the lounge chair next to him, kissing and licking his neck. He freed one hand and squeezed and massaged the Asian woman’s breast. A crowd was gathered, watching admiringly.
While the erotic scene was certainly mesmerizing to watch, the security contractor in Heath recognized it for the logistical nightmare that it presented. People were downright riveted, their attention distracted.
That was a problem, because a companion would be able to get dangerously close to anyone on this ship, and kill them in any number of ways. Slow-acting poison would be Heath’s best guess – because the companion would want to be on some other part of the ship when the target died.
Shifters, Inc. had discussed that with the Shangri-La’s security team, and they had a team of doctors and nurses standing by just in case, with antidotes to literally every poison known to man. They had a witch and a wizard on board who could counteract poison of a magical nature, and who had also scanned everyone boarding the ship for black magic. None had been detected.
He shrugged. One of the other team members was taking a turn watching the video camera that was secretly installed in Reshef’s room. Right now, Heath was expected to mingle with the crowd and get to know people, and then later he’d take a turn watching Reshef’s room.
He heard the crack of a whip and a cry of ecstasy. He walked along a jungle path, turned a curve, and came upon a clearing. There was a complicated jungle-gym like structure made of bamboo, and several beautiful companions were tied to it, naked and spread-eagled. A female companion was urging men to approach the structure. The men caressed the women, kissed them, stroked them…
One woman, Heath saw, was bent over a wooden pommel on the stage, naked, legs tied spread-eagled, and a passenger was flogging her enthusiastically. From the sound of her ecstatic shrieks, she was close to orgasm.
A female passenger, a beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties, had stripped off her clothing and was being tied to the bamboo structure by several of the female companions. Two handsome male companions caressed her as she was restrained, and then one knelt in front of her as the other sucked her breasts.
The male companion began lapping at the woman’s pussy, spreading her open with his fingers. She uttered throaty cries of pleasure.
A woman slid by Heath, deliberately brushing up against him. He could feel the hard points of her nipples sliding along his back, and once she’d passed him she turned and gave him a lascivious wink and ran her tongue over her wet red lips.
He was surrounded by blondes, brunettes, redheads. All beautiful, all giggling and making eyes at him. He could have his pick of any of them right now. He could take any of them back to his room and be having sex on those silky sheets in the next five minutes.
Annoyingly, he found that he wasn’t enjoying this flirting business as much as he’d expected. For some reason, thoughts of Tonya kept popping into his head. She had the tendency to rush into danger without thinking twice. Sure, she had shifter healing powers, but even a shifter could suffer mortal damage. Would she be safe while he was gone?
And why was that even his problem?
A brunette deliberately brushed up against him, letting her breasts rub against his arm as she slid by, and she fluttered her long, thick lashes at him in clear invitation. “Do you want to tie me up?” she purred. “You could do anything to me.”
Normally he’d feel a stirring in his loins, but today he felt nothing. He realized he had no interest in the brunette, or in any of the other women who were fluttering by and eyeing him with open interest. He shook his head and walked away, heading for the bar.
Damn it, what was wrong with him? He couldn’t stop thinking of Tonya. As he scanned the crowd, he found himself checking out a woman who was more Tonya-shaped than the other women on board. She was dressed as a companion, wearing the ship’s tell-tale Hawaiian-print ensemble, so she’d be available. Hmm, he thought. Full-figured, soft, with delicious womanly curves. She was even a redhead like Tonya.
He was clearly losing his mind, because as he moved through the crowd towards her, she even smelled like Tonya.
Then the woman turned around, and his mouth fell open with shock. It was Tonya. Tonya was a companion. Tonya was wearing a green lei, which under the code of the ship meant that she hadn’t been claimed by any of the passengers yet.
Someone would claim her. Somebody would be kissing her, stripping her clothes from her… Heath felt his face go furry and claws shot from his fingertips.
Chapter Five
Heath quickly slid behind a palm tree and, panting for breath, struggled to force his beast back down. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself by shifting and roaring with rage – even though his bear snarled and thrashed, demanding to be freed.
After a minute he’d calmed enough to step back out, his claws retracted and his skin smooth again, but his beast lurked just underneath the surface, rumbling with anger and frustration as he watched male passengers caress her with their gazes.
Why was she here? Why would a newspaper reporter work as a companion? He knew she was rich; she drove a ne
w Mercedes and lived in a mansion. Was she bored? Was she following him just to mess with his head?
Or was she here working undercover? If so, she was one dedicated reporter – willing to literally work under the covers.
The whole “Fated Mates” theory claimed that it was inevitable that you would meet the one you were meant to be with. You’d have strong feelings of attraction for them immediately, and once you met your Fated Mate, if you didn’t give in to those feelings and start dating them right away, you would keep running into them again and again until inevitably you ended up together. Bobbi believed that, he knew.
That couldn’t possibly be happening here…but what the hell was she doing on this cruise ship?
He moved closer to her. She spotted him and a look of shock crossed her face. After staring at him for a second, she blinked, turned and flounced off.
There was a tiki bar at the opposite end of the clearing, and he realized with shock that he recognized a man who stood there nursing a beer. It was that Hammersmith idiot, Tom Hooper, wearing a white silk shirt that was unbuttoned to show way too much man cleavage, heavy gold chains dangling in his chest hair, and black silk pants. His hair was gelled into painful-looking spikes. Tom was watching Tonya walk away, with an expression of greed and lust that made Heath want to rip his face off. Anger roared through him. He’d bet a year’s salary that Tom was somehow connected to Tonya being here.
Tonya vanished into the crowd without looking back.
Heath, blood boiling, restrained himself from running after her and instead stomped downstairs to find the ship’s security director.
There was a security office on board for the use of any passengers who needed it, but to maintain discretion for their mission, a special security liaison, Pierre Robard, had been designated for this cruise. He operated out of the activities director’s office.
Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) Page 3