Perfect Picture [The ShadowDance Club 7] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Noticing that she was shredding the napkin she’d been holding, she purposefully stilled her hands and took a deep breath before responding. “Alex, I appreciate you taking time to speak with me, but really, it’s okay. The history between Noah and I is…well, it’s complicated.” She didn’t want to go into the old hurts again, this night was supposed to be a celebration and she’d already been feeling a bit disconnected. Discussing old wounds wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest tonight…or ever if anyone asked her.

“But it does matter, because it isn’t the first time it’s happened. A large part of your complicated history is because of another call I made to Noah several years ago. Another time when his unique ability to help was needed to help a group of young women and he picked up in the middle of the night and went.” Alex had been looking at the table where his finger had been slowly tracing figure eights in the condensation from a cup, but when he slowly lifted his gaze to hers she was shocked to see the regret and grief that were reflected in his eyes.

After several long seconds, Alex finally spoke again, this time his voice was laced with a hesitance she would have never associated with him. Usually Alex Lamont was the epitome of controlled self-assurance. “I don’t ask for favors very often Ilaina, but I’m asking you for one. Please listen to what Noah has to say. He is not the person you believe him to be and the night he left your bed was because our team needed him. Because of his actions we were able to rescue a group of young ladies who are alive and back with their families. Those ripples have stretched far and wide, I assure you.”

She was shocked by his request, not only because she had known Alex Lamont her entire life and she’d never seen him look or sound as vulnerable as he did right now. But also because she knew the types of missions his team favored. The Lamonts were well known for rescue missions and they had interrupted several human trafficking operations that she knew about. It seemed the foreign press didn’t feel any obligation to hide the identities of U.S. operatives, and she’d read about their daring rescues more than once. If Noah was involved with those, then he was likely involved in some of the more intensely gray areas that Cash had also mentioned their missions often dealt with. Why a photographer would be playing an essential role in any of those missions was certainly an interesting question.

Lainy had known the entire Lamont family for as long as she could remember and if there was one thing she knew about them it was that they were intensely loyal. Honesty and integrity were tenets they lived by. Taking a deep breath, she sighed and then nodded. “I promise to listen, Alex. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to change my mind. After all, he’s had opportunities to tell me and he hasn’t taken them. Why would his explanations be more relevant now than they would have been before?” She’d tried to keep the hurt from her voice, but from the tightening of Alex’s jar she feared she had failed as miserably as she’d thought she had.

Alex Lamont and his brother were mirror image twins, but Lainy had never had any trouble telling them apart. Their personalities had always made them appear very different in her opinion. And the thoughtful, intense man sitting next to her was most definitely a Dominant as well. She’d grown up in a house filled with men just like Alex, so she could spot them at a thousand paces. Alex was leading her in this conversation and she knew it, but couldn’t seem to muster the energy to battle with him. And truthfully she’d learned years ago to choose your battles with Doms carefully because they were always experts in moving the conversation in the exact direction they wanted it to go. But he surprised her when he leaned toward her and looked deeply into her eyes. “Let me ask you this Ilaina. If you wanted to hurt Cash, Collin, or Clay, what would you do?”

She was taken aback by the question at first but then saw where he was heading. When she answered truthfully, “Hurt Layla,” he nodded his head.

“That’s right. And Noah has known all along that if the wrong people found out about his interest in you, they would exploit it. He would endanger you and he’d be much less effective because his Achilles heel would be exposed.” Alex looked longingly down the table at his wife and then returned his attention to Ilaina. “Keep in mind that sometimes, good people do the wrong things for all the right reasons.” With those words, he stood and looked down at her. “All I ask is that you listen. I owe him, hell, a lot of people owe him, and we’d like to see him find some of the happiness he’s given others.” He turned and walked away and Lainy was left staring at his back as he made his way back to his brother and wife.

Lainy hadn’t seen or heard from Noah since he cut short their date almost three weeks earlier. And she had been more than a little surprised that he hadn’t tried to contact her. But she had been busy enough helping with the plans for her brothers’ and Layla’s wedding that she hadn’t really spent much time considering the consequences of that either. Just as she was setting back against her seat she heard Kat squeal and saw grins spread over the faces of each and every one of the women sitting around their table. Kat was on her feet and moving toward the dance floor and pulling her friends along with her.

Jenna grabbed Lainy’s hand. “Come on girl-friend. No one escapes Kat’s fun. She’s a big Kenny Chesney fan so I’m sure this song is no accident.” That’s when Lainy realized “Guitars & Tiki Bars” was playing and from the looks of the dance floor every woman in the place was going to be rocking right along with Kat. Lainy laughed and shook her head and just let the music carry her along on a tune set to a Caribbean beat. God, she loved dancing…she always had. It was one of the things she’d always had in common with her oldest brother. When she’d been in grade school, Cash had taught her to dance and he was still her favorite dance partner.

Lainy was having a great time with her new friends. They were all hooting and hollering…lost in the music and the joy of the night’s celebration. She really had forgotten how great it was to have friends. After spending the last several years traveling the world and having her picture taken in every conceivable exotic locale, she was still trying to shake the feeling of isolation that all those motel rooms had instilled in her.

The music transitioned to Kenny Chesney’s “Pirate Flag” and the dancing got exponentially sexier until it was bordering on obscene. Lainy laughed as the Doms in their group seemed to suddenly position themselves around the dance floor. Laughing to herself she wondered if they were erecting some king of force-field shield or something equally as intimidating for men trying to watch their women gyrating to the pulsing beats of the music. The margaritas she’d had earlier were finally taking the edge off of her unease and she was able to let herself fall completely under the spell cast by the bonds of friends and family.

Moving to the edge of the floor as the song ended, she was laughing with Tori Bartell and her new sister-in-law Layla when she turned to exit the dance floor and came face to face with Noah Drummond. He pulled her into his arms and leaned down, putting his nose at that sensitive place behind her ear and took a deep breath as if he could inhale her deep inside himself. And rather than feeling her usual urge to push him back, she felt her body press closer. “Dance with me
cara
.”

Moving around the dance floor in perfect harmony as if they’d been dancing together forever she laughed to herself because she could now see that Alex had obviously set her up. Oddly enough, knowing Alex had set the stage for Noah didn’t annoy her at all and she wasn’t even sure right now why it should have. Listening to Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes”
as Noah moved her around the floor she felt like he was taking her on an entirely different musical ride. And didn’t it just figure that the man would show up just as the song she’d always considered
pure sex set to music
was queued to play.

“I remembered that you loved this song,
cara
. I asked them to play it for us. I wanted to hold you against me while the words wrapped around you. Watching you dance when I first walked in reminded me how much I loved dancing with you. God baby, the music loves your body. It caresses your soul and your body moves in response. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I’m glad I had called ahead to have this song at the ready.” Suddenly Lainy understood the underlying sense of urgency she’d felt in Alex’s words, he had obviously known Noah was on his way.

Her dads had always told her that there would be times in life when you have to choose your battles. And right in this moment, it wasn’t even a question—this wasn’t a battlefield she was willing to die on. So she let herself settle against his strength and for once…she was just going to let go and enjoy the feel of being held in his arms. She let the music seduce her and let him lead her in a dance that quickly turned into something much more intimate. The energy all around her seemed to suddenly become charged with raw desire or maybe she was just projecting her feelings onto those around her.

Noah had traveled the world over—several times in fact and had never met another person whose soul called to him as Ilaina Red Cloud’s always had. When he had first entered the new dance club his gaze had immediately been drawn to her. Seeing her dancing with the other women had stolen his breath. Watching as she lost herself in the music he felt an almost magnetic pull toward her. She was always so guarded that it was pure magic to see her step out from behind the wall she’d built so solidly around her heart.

The picture he’d taken of her that night was the only other time he’d seen clear into the soul of the woman he knew was hiding behind the glass wall she’d erected around her. She didn’t seem to understand the glass that protected her also imprisoned her. He’d always likened it to thick blocks of ice because you could see the beautiful woman on the other side, but you couldn’t touch her. Noah wasn’t sure why that wall was in place, but he planned to blast it with wave after wave of heat until he’d melted it once and for all.

Ilaina Red Cloud had always been pure poetry in motion as she moved to the music. The artist in him saw lines of pure perfection in her movements and the pictures were painted in his mind as fast as his senses could take in the information. He had always known that her deep eroticism probably had its roots in her DNA but there was something almost spiritual about the way her mind seemed hyper-aware of her body’s position at all times. Noah had always believed Ilaina’s Native American heritage was a much larger part of who she was than even she had ever realized.

As he watched her, Noah had felt another presence close at his side. A quick glance told him it was Ilaina’s grandmother. The older woman smiled. “Return your gaze to the one who holds your heart, but lend me your ears for a moment. I will help you all I can, but in the end, your success depends on your ability to protect her. You’ll not only face the one who has trampled her trust and frightened her, but also the shadows that are chasing you as well.” When her words registered, he turned to question her, but she was already gone.

Smiling to himself, he remembered all of the stories he’d heard about the tiny woman many had believed to be one of the strongest
spirit talkers
to have lived in many generations of a culture known for gifted people. He made a mental note to ask
Níyol
Red Cloud to pose for him because there was a special spiritual essence that surrounded her that he wanted to try and capture on film.

When they’d all been kids, Noah had loved listening to the Red Cloud siblings talk about the woman whose name literally translated to
wind
. Cash, Collin, and Clay had laughed as they’d told their friends that she had sworn she’d been named after the wind that spoke to her. But while they hadn’t taken her words to heart, there had always been a part of Noah that knew the woman’s words were spoken in truth, just as he’d felt the truth of her words today.

Nodding to the DJ, Noah stepped forward as the music was winding down and Ilaina was moving to the edge of the floor. Pulling her into his arms was the best feeling in the entire world and feeling her relax against his chest as their bodies moved with the rhythm of the music felt exactly like the prelude to sex that he hoped it was. For some reason sex with Ilaina Red Cloud had never seemed like the
end
, but merely a
means
to connect with the turbulent soul she kept hidden from the world.

“
Cara
, everything about you fills me, your body pressed against mine, the smell of citrus and sage that surrounds you, and the soft sighs you make when you let yourself become lost in the moment. Come home with me when your family’s celebration ends. Let me show you what I wanted to share with you the night I was called away.” He felt her stiffen just before he spoke again. “I want to talk to you, please listen to what I have to say.”

Noah pulled back just enough that he could look into her obsidian eyes. They reflected so much uncertainty that he wondered if she would agree. When she simply nodded, his knees nearly buckled in relief. He’d traveled for almost thirty-six straight hours in order to get here for this celebration. He had known she would be here because it was an important occasion for her family. And understanding the significance of reestablishing their relationship when she was with her family was critical because the people she loved would be the key to the success or failure of his plan.

“Thank you
cara.
There is one more song I want you to listen to as we move around the floor. Listen to the words and think about the possibilities. Some of John Denver’s music has become cliché and that’s a shame because he had an understanding of the human spirit’s fragility that most people never grasp.” He’d chosen two songs and had asked the DJ to dedicate this second one to all the people celebrating love tonight. As the man spoke the words over the loudspeakers Noah kissed Ilaina on the forehead and pulled her against his chest and slid his hand to that sensitive spot just above her ass and pressed her against his hard cock. “Perhaps Love” wafted through the air and he heard women throughout the room let out a collective sigh, so obviously he wasn’t the only one who appreciated the depth of the song’s meaning.