The Shapeshifter's Bride

Chapter Three

She is going to be a handful, he thought as he watched her stalk out of the room, grabbing the bottle of tequila and cradling it against her chest like a mother would her infant. He couldn’t help but notice the way her tight blue jeans clung to her heart-shaped ass or the little patch of olive skin just underneath one taut cheek revealed by a small, threadbare hole. She was wearing a baggy sweatshirt, so he couldn’t see her torso, but he was willing to bet she would be lean and powerfully built, but soft in all the appropriate places. It was obvious in the way she moved. There is the natural grace she possessed as a wereleopard, but she was also a woman who was aware of her assets and knew how to work it. Even when she was stomping off in her ratty jeans and baggy sweatshirt.

    “I must apologize for my sister’s behavior,” Alec murmured. “She has been living in Los Angeles for the past five years.”

    He knew. He had spent the night poring over the dossier Alec had thoughtfully provided him after asking him to look after his baby sister. He had learned her habits, the names of her known associates, and the cities she frequently visited. He knew where she would run to and hide if she ever had the chance to escape. Not that she would. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight. But he saw no reason of following her to her bedroom. He had scoped it out before her arrival. There was no way out of it except through the door. 

    “You put iron bars on my windows?” she shrieked from the second story landing. “Did you think I would risk breaking my neck by jumping out of the window just to get away from you? Ugh!”

    Moments later, the door to her bedroom slammed hard enough he could swear the entire house shook because of it.

    “She’s beautiful.” The words stumbled out of his mouth, though it felt like someone else had said them. A lapse in judgment, an unforgivable error. That kind of thinking could get him in trouble… or killed. A guard must never see his charge as an object of desire. It would be akin to inviting a fox into the hen house. Or begging for an ass-kicking.

    Alec shrugged. If he thought anything of Christian’s comment, his face didn’t reveal it. “Yes, she is. It has always been her curse as well as her blessing. It gets her whatever she wants without having to work for it.” He shook his head ruefully. “No wisdom of experience. My sister is an empty-headed fool.”

    Christian objected silently. There was intelligence gleaming in those brilliant emerald eyes. She was a tricky one and severely under-estimated by her brother. He would have to watch himself with her. “You should have let her stay where she was. She would have been safer there.”

    “My enemies would have eventually found her there. She would have had no one to protect her.” Alec exhaled harshly. “It was time she came home.”

    There was exhaustion in Alec’s eyes. The pressure that came with being a leader and the constant danger that threatened the clan were wearing him down. “Lukan will waste no time trying to get his hands on her.” And the mere thought of it made Christian want to punch something in his immediate vicinity. Unfortunately, that meant Alec.

    “That’s why I asked you to look after her, my friend.” Alec dropped his hand on Christian’s shoulder and squeezed. “Lukan has spies everywhere, even among my people. You, however, are an outsider. You have no stake in this.”

    Outsider… even now, the world rankled. He steeled himself against the feeling. There was nothing to be done about it. He was a man without ties. Fact was fact.

    “I need to know you will do everything in your power to protect my sister, Christian.” Alec spoke slowly, his words laden with the gravity of what he was saying.

    The vow came to Christian’s lips easily enough. “You have my word.”

    Alec released his shoulder and stepped back. “That is all I ask.”

***

    Daisy pulled her nightgown over her head and dove in the crystal-blue waters of the Olympic-sized pool. The water felt like cool silk sluicing over her overheated skin. Above her head, the bloated moon glowered at her like a disapproving mother. The back of her neck tingled with it. But she could no longer bear the weight of her cotton nightgown on her body. It was always how she felt just days before the change. She mourned to freedom of being able to walk around naked. But she wasn’t about to shake her bare ass at Alec or give Alfred an eyeful.

    As she turned over on her back and lazily pushed at the water, she floated to the surface and the small waves she created with her movement encircled her n*****s like fingers. She bit her lip and groaned. It was the most inconvenient symptom of the change. She was frickin’ horny as hell. In LA, it was easy enough to call one of her lovers, but in Redding, she was s**t out of luck. She wouldn’t dare f**k one of her brother’s cats even if she could, which meant her battery-operated friend had to work overtime. But even the release it gave was ultimately unsatisfying. There was just something to be said about a good, solid pounding. She missed the weight of a man’s body on top of her and the feeling of taut, muscled flesh under her fingers.

    Which, exasperatingly enough, only made her think of her new bodyguard. God, the nerve of Alec hiring a guy who looked like he just stepped out of a Playgirl centerfold. Daisy groaned again. The man was long, lean, and built like a swimmer. She knew this because he had occupied the pool before her and she had to wait until he returned to the house before she could venture outside herself. From her bedroom window, she watched as he threaded gracefully through the water, each stroke precise and methodical. His movements were so streamlined and natural that he reminded her of a shark. She got goosebumps just thinking about it now.

    “Hell of a night, isn’t it?” 

    Daisy pushed herself up to her feet and stood on the tiled floor of the pool, covering her breasts with her hands. The prickly itch on her scalp told her the intruder was a leopard. She looked behind her and stared at the blond man leading idly against a lounger. The white shirt he had on was unbuttoned, revealing a slender, muscular body, and he was wearing a pair of black swimming shorts. His eyes, a vivid blue in the moonlight, glittered with mischief. Unable to recognize him, her first instinct was to scream for Alfred and opened her mouth to do so.

    “Whoa.” The stranger held up his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t summon the troops just yet. I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but that’s no reason to bring down the wrath of Alec on me.”

    Daisy released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and eased her death grip on her chest. What was it about this place that made her so paranoid? It had to be a side effect of expecting her bodyguard to jump out of nowhere at any moment and give her a heart attack. Earlier this evening, she walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and found him rifling through her suitcase. Apparently, he was looking for drugs. She had kicked him out of her room, screaming from the top of her lungs. Alec backed him up, of course. Assholes.

    “Caleb.” She grinned at the newcomer. “Thank God you’re here. Yours is the only friendly face I’ve seen all day.”

    Caleb was her cousin, the only child of her father’s older brother. They had grown up in the same household because Caleb’s own parents died when he was just a baby. Since the two of them were almost the same age, they hung out with the same crowd in school and around town. Daisy always felt closer to Caleb than to Alec, who was six years older than she was. She couldn’t quite figure out how the two of them lost touch over the years, but there were times when she was living in LA that she missed his company. She couldn’t believe how glad she was to see him.

    “Very nice, cousin,” he said with a leer. He wiggled his golden eyebrows up and down. “You really have grown up. A lot.” He looked pointedly at her front.

    “Don’t be a pig.” She threw him a dirty look and crossed her arms protectively over her chest. In response, he pushed out his lower lip and gave her a sad-puppy face. Daisy was able to maintain her stern look for a few seconds before giving up and grinning at him. “So what the hell are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in, what, five years?”

    “Not since your dad’s funeral.” He shrugged off his shirt, took a few steps back, then took a cannonball dive into the pool, splashing Daisy in the face. He broke the surface a few seconds later, shaking the water off his hair like a dog, and beamed at Daisy. “I heard Big Bro sprang you from the pokey.”

    “Yeah.” Daisy felt the goodwill in her body slowly drain out of her. “My fabulous ass can stay out of prison… if I play Miss Hospitality for the clan for as long as Alec wants me to.” And considering the way he practically bit her head off during dinner when she mentioned visiting a friend in San Francisco, she guessed it would be longer than she feared. “My community service starts tomorrow.”

    Caleb frowned. “You won’t be picking up trash on Interstate 5 with a stabby stick, will you?”

    Daisy pictured herself wearing an orange jumpsuit and a trash bag in her hand. “Ugh, no, thank God. I will be helping out Mrs. Sullivan at the library half the week, then hanging out at the homeless shelter in the other half.”

    For one hundred hours. She couldn’t even bear thinking about it or she would probably end up crying again. At least the library she would be serving belonged to the family. Her father donated enough money to it that they renamed the place after him when he died. Daisy could see herself reading Nora Roberts’ books in a back room somewhere, while occasionally reading a fairy tale aloud to some kids or something. The homeless shelter, on the other hand… She shuddered.

    “Well, it’s good to have you back, Daze.” Caleb flicked some water in her direction, hitting her on the cheek. 

    “Oh no, you didn’t.” Daisy splashed him back and before too long, the two of them were engaged in an all-out water fight, which had Daisy shrieking and laughing. She couldn’t remember having such fun in a good long while.

    “What the hell is going on here?”

    Daisy gasped and turned around, cupping her hands over her breasts. Her new bodyguard stood at the edge of the pool, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt. Irritation radiated from him in waves, making the little hairs on Daisy’s arms stand on end. He was looking at her as though he had just witnessed her doing something embarrassing, like peeing on the Persian rug in the living room. Daisy had the sudden urge to do something absurd, like shake her boobs at him and wiggle her tongue. But she did not think he would appreciate it.

    “It’s called fun, buddy. You should try it sometime.” Ok, so it wasn’t the most clever comeback ever, but it was all she could come up with at the moment.

    He did not respond. Not a wink. 

    In the water, Daisy felt herself burn with shame. Which made her angry. She was the one who was practically imprisoned in her own home. Why shouldn’t she have a little fun? She wasn’t going to start acting like Miss Priss just because her guard-dog had a stick up his ass the size of Manhattan.

    “Well, this little scene has crossed over into awkward for me, so I guess I’m just going to take off now…” Caleb swam to the ladder and placed his hand on the railing, glancing at Daisy over his shoulder. “Give me a call tomorrow, Daze. We can have lunch.” He picked up his shirt and put it on, smirking at the bodyguard. “Lap dog.”

    The man ignored Caleb, which caused her cousin to flip him off on his way out.

    Daisy glared at her bodyguard. “Asshole.”

    His response was to hold up a light-blue terrycloth robe with a yellow duck embroidered on the lapel. “Some people call me Chris. You might want to try it.”

    Chris. The name didn’t suit him at all. It sounded innocuous… too normal. He looked like a Magnus. Or some Scottish last name like McLeod or something. If he pulled out a huge f*****g sword and started brandishing it about, she wouldn’t be surprised. Chris was an accountant who rode his mountain bike on weekends and took out his girlfriend to Olive Garden on Friday nights. He was definitely not a Chris.

    He was still holding her favorite robe. Daisy had the feeling he could stand there till morning, waiting her out. She sighed. He thrust out his hand in an offer to pull her out of the pool, but Daisy ignored him and used the railing. 

    “Thanks.” She snatched the robe out of his hand and wrapped it around herself. Not that it did any good. His silver eyes saw too much. She would gladly put on a burka if it would help her not feel so naked under his gaze.

    “You should go to bed. You have a long day tomorrow.”

    Daisy spat out the two words that immediately came to mind. Childish, a little vulgar, but they made her feel better. Added a little swish to her strut. And helped make sure he was watching as she walked away.