MAIL ORDER BRIDE: ARISTOCRAT: The Duke’s Engagement (Historical Victorian Duke Romance) (New Adult Romance Short Stories) (17 page)

              The waiter brought over two wine glasses, placing them on black, cloth squares. He poured them each a finger of wine before leaving the bottle and heading back to the kitchen.

              “And what is it again you’re researching? Panther shifters? What makes you think you’re going to find anything about them?”

              “I was told by a close relative that I would find at least one or two shifters here. I can’t explain it to you, but you must know it’s pertinent I get this information.”

              “Alright, I won’t push,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. It was sweet, and a bit bitter. Small pieces of pineapple floated around the golden liquid. Laura and Arturo looked at each other before averting their eyes. This proceeded to happen several more times. An invisible pull unfolded between them and neither understood how it had happened.

              It had been quite some time since Arturo had come across another woman like Laura. In fact, he could barely remember being attracted to anyone like this. Sure there were the occasional women he slept with, or the not so occasional, but no one was like Laura.

              “Do they pay you to get drunk on the job?” she asked.

              “You’d be surprised, sometimes they do. But I’m not at work right now. I’m done for the day.”

              “How nice. What are your plans for later?” she flushed slightly before saying, “You know, to relax.”

              “I was thinking about going to a party later. There’s a party they’re throwing later, just a celebration on the beach. Do you want to go?”

              “I’ll think about it,” she said, giving him a small smile.

              His eyes lit up; he was intrigued. And he loved the thrill of the chase. It made everything else so much more interesting.

              He told her he’d be at the party and if she wanted to attend she was free to, no strings attached. It started at nine, after the sun went down. Instead of finishing off the bottle, he gave the rest to her. As she walked away from the table, probably heading towards her room, Arturo stared at her backside. She was beautiful, and full of mind games. He couldn’t wait for what might be in store later.

Chapter 3

              The party was set poolside. There was music and dancing and the bartender created strange brightly colored drinks for everyone. A beautiful woman in a flowing red dress hands out flower leis at the door. Though Laura didn’t want to come, she found herself compelled to see Arturo again. Their lunch had ben brief, and she’d barely been able to gauge anything about him. But he was beautiful and kind, something she tried very hard to ignore. She threw on a light blue dress and a black top, something simple that would show off her figure. When she arrived at the party, she found Arturo at the bar.

              To her surprise, he was talking to the bartender, not one of the women standing around. They were having an animated discussion, waving their arms around. The bartender shook something in a metallic cup and poured Arturo a bright green martini. She worked her way through the crowd and slid up to Arturo. He took a sip of his drink while looking her up and down.

              She looked beautiful in the mixture of rainbow lights and moonlight. Feeling his eyes heavy on her body, she turned and looked out at the crowd.

              “I love this,” she said, gesturing to the party-goers.”

              “Really now? I would have thought this wouldn’t be your scene. You know, people relaxing, having fun— it doesn’t seem like your thing.”

              Still looking at the crowd, she bit the insides of her cheek to suppress a spreading smile.

              “I can have fun, on occasion,” she responded. “Unlike you, who seems to have fun a bit too often.”

              “Now what is that supposed to mean?” he leaned closer to her, and she could smell sweetness on his breath.

              Daring to look at him, though their faces were mere inches apart, she said, “I see you bedding a different woman every day. You’re either lonely or bored and I haven’t figured out which.”

              “Oh, so you’ve been watching me?” he asked, his eyes staring deeply into hers. Both their pupils dilated into dark pools; the chaos of the party faded away.

              Laura and Arturo moved slowly towards each other. Right as they were about to kiss, Arturo heard his name being called.

              “See what I mean?” Laura said before pulling away. She plucked the drink out of Arturo’s hand and sat on a barstool.

              A young woman wearing a skin-tight black dress danced her way to Arturo. She put her arms around his neck, begging him to come dance with her. He looked at Laura, pleading silently with her. She merely shrugged, as if to say, go, I’ll be fine on my own.

              The woman’s name was Annabelle, and she was very persistent. Arturo obliged, following her out onto the dance floor. They were twirling each other around to a swing song when suddenly he felt it. The familiar pull of hunger and lust. He tried to keep it in, but found it increasingly more difficult.

              If he wasn’t careful his fangs would start to poke out and thus the chaos would begin. When he was in panther form, he could hardly hold himself back. He’d devour everyone on this dance floor in one bite, wouldn’t even hesitate to eat Laura alive. Her smooth, tan skin, and dark brown eyes would go down his throat like water. Instead of turning to violence, he excused himself from Annabelle.

              Weaving through the crowd, Arturo headed towards the jungle. Behind him, following at a slightly unsteady pace, was Laura. She wanted to know where he was going, or at least she kind of wanted to know. The other part of her was desperate to head to the jungle at night. She figured she’d run into one of the shifters in there, for they enjoyed feeding when no one else was around. Her cousins told her they fed in early morning and late evening, never during the day, and never in front of other human beings.

              She stood at the base of the jungle, clutching her sides with her hands. From within the darkness, she heard strange noises. Birds sang and flew, small animals growled at each other. She took a small step into the mouth of the jungle. Her heart was practically in her throat, and she was nervous about what she might find. But she knew she had to do it. She had to research the panther shifters. There was no way around it; she would avenge her grandfather’s death.

              In the distance, Arturo prowled the grounds, sniffing for food. His night vision kicked in and he was able to see through patches of moonlight that there were vermin running around. The first few kills had been easy. A rat or two, sometimes something bigger. He could identify their species by taste, and how their bones felt beneath his jaws.

              He felt bad for leaving Laura at the party. She surely wouldn’t forgive him for that. He began to think of ways to make it up to her. Maybe he’d ask her out on another date, convince her that he wasn’t all that bad. But what about the truth? Would he ever be able to tell her that? Calm down, Arturo, he said to himself. She’s just a girl that you met on one of the tours. It’s not like she’d ever be into you. But the more he repeated this mantra, the less it felt true.

              Laura wasn’t just another girl. He was attracted to not only her body, but her mind and wit as well. She was constantly snarky to him, always knowing when to fire a comeback. He decided he was mostly full, wanting to head back to the party to apologize. As he neared one of the openings to the jungle, he smelled something different. It was sweaty, tangy, and human. Was there a lost tourist in this massive jungle? But who would be foolish enough to enter into these parts?

              He crawled slowly, his shoulders hunching as if he were going to attack. He needed to keep his wits about him. If he attacked an innocent human being, that would mean trouble for the rest of the panther shifters. They were meant to only eat animals. Years ago, perhaps decades, they’d once hunted humans. When Arturo learned about that, he felt disgusted, betrayed. They were half human; how could they kill one of their own kind? He’d explained this argument to one of his brothers, but they didn’t listen to him. This was probably why panther shifters hunted alone. They each held radical, dangerous opinions and would probably hunt each other into extinction if they weren’t careful.

              Arturo knew he could never harm another human being. It just wasn’t in him. Those who couldn’t shift fascinated him. They weren’t as strong as he was, sure, but he was still interested in their muscles and marrow. What did it feel like to only have human DNA in your body? He neared the source of the smell, his mind raging like an angry storm. What he saw next surprised and confused him. It was Laura, frozen in her tracks. She looked at him with enormous eyes. He remembered he was unrecognizable in this form. This was it, the moment he’d been trying to avoid. It was time to tell her the truth.

Chapter 4

              He transformed back into a human being, knowing it would frighten her. She shrieked and he silenced her by kissing her. She was silent for a few seconds before pushing him away and asking,

              “What the hell?”

              “Laura, let me explain—“

              “You’re one of them,” she said, pushing him away.

              “Listen Laura, I know you’re upset, but you have to keep your voice down. We’re not the only ones here.”

              As if on cue, they heard stomping on the ground as other panther shifters surrounded them. Their paws made muted footsteps as they approached. Laura could see flashes of bright yellow and green that she assumed to be their eyes.

              She stepped closer to Arturo and he put his arm protectively around her. Without realizing it, she’d already forgiven him for lying to her. He tugged her closer to him and addressed the group of panthers. It surprised him that they were all together in that area. They dug they claws into the earth, kneading the dirt like dough.

              “Listen to me. This woman isn’t any of your concern. I command you all to leave, come back from where you came from. It’s not worth it.”

              One of the younger panthers hissed at him, approaching closer than Arturo would have liked. Though he was in human form, he was still able to emit a low growl that came from the very core of his stomach. The young panther quickly stepped back.

              “Give us the girl,” one of the older men growled. His name was Jess and he was married to a woman named Cana. They were a legendary couple, known for hunting down anacondas.

              In fact, they were the only couple that hunted together. The other panthers preferred to remain separate from each other. It was just the way things worked; they enjoyed hunting alone.

              Arturo always thought it was because they were selfish. When he was younger, and incapable of hunting on his own, he was nervous and often asked his friends and family to hunt with him. They abandoned him often, trying to teach him a lesson. His father told him it was better to be on his own. This resulted in many lonely nights in the heart of the jungle, struggling to find something to eat. He often slept near the canopies, preferring to look up at the sky. That was how he learned the constellations and different types of cloud formations.

              When at last his family wanted to spend with him, he rejected them. Leaving for Rio de Janeiro, he decided never to be close with anyone again. Laura was changing things. If he were a different man, and this were a different time, he surely would have left her to die. He’d have been indifferent, not caring whether or not she was devoured. Perhaps he would have devoured her himself, had he not already eaten. This went against every rule in his book— to leave her to die, to let her live. Arturo lived in a world where everything had two parts and he could never figure out which side to choose.

              “I will not hesitate to fight all of you right here right now. Or have you all but forgotten I come from the Emerald family?”

              The other panthers hissed and growled low, but they finally dispersed. Arturo stuck around for a few more minutes just to make sure they were completely safe. He wanted to escort Laura out after they’d disappeared.

              “Are you okay?” he asked as they walked through the trees.

              “I’m fine, I think.” She still felt a bit shaky.

              At least now she could confirm that it wasn’t all in her head. Now she had bona-fide proof that the race of panther shifters existed. But they were bloodthirsty and vicious. How would she ever get revenge for her family? It was time to talk to Arturo about what had happened.

              “My grandfather was killed by panther shifters. In fact, he was killed by one of his own kind. We never knew for sure who it was, but it was someone close to him.”

              “Your grandfather traveled in a pack? What was that like?”

              “Incredibly difficult. From what I’ve heard, panther shifters are prone to agitation and prefer to be loners. It makes sense; they’re completely unlike lions in that sense. He thought he knew the people he worked with. We were all wrong.”