Savage Nature (45 page)

“And your special ones?” Remy prompted.

“They’re waitin’ at the Mercier dock for us, already loaded in the boat.”

“Beau, how dumb can you be,” Remy burst out in disgust. “Runnin’ drugs, for God’s sake. What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Beau hung his head. “We were losin’ everythin’, Remy. The house, the boat, everythin’ and we’ve always done what pa told us to do. We got good money for makin’ the deliveries and workin’ for the Merciers gave us great benefits. They’re fair employers.”

“Other than you have to run drugs for them,” Drake said.onet>

Beau didn’t reply.

“What are you goin’ to do with us?” Gilbert asked.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Drake said. “For now, go home and keep your mouths shut. If you get another call, you’d better let us know immediately. And then take Evangeline to the Boudreaux home. You understand me? Don’t make me come looking for you.”

Remy bent down and unlocked the cuffs on both men. “You were damned stupid to get into this mess,” he repeated. “And you’re lucky Drake is leader.”

“Oh, they’ll be punished,” Drake said. “I have to give it some thought.”

“Tell the boy . . .” At Drake’s scowl, Beau cleared his throat, “Renard’s son, we’d still like to talk with him. If he’d like.”

“I’ll tell him.” Drake pinned him with his predator’s stare. “Don’t make the mistake of running away or going to the Merciers. I’d hunt you down and I’d never stop until I found you and I killed you. You don’t want me for an enemy.”

Beau nodded. “This is my home. I was born here and I’ll die here. I got nowhere else to go. Gilbert’s the same. And we’ve got Evangeline and the boys to see to. We’re not goin’ to be lookin’ over our shoulders the rest of our lives.”

Drake watched the two men walk heavily toward the boat before he turned to Remy. “We didn’t get much on our killer.”

“Drugs? You didn’t think maybe that might be important to tell me?” Remy demanded.

“Sorry. We were going to talk to you first thing after we rested. Someone drugged us and tried to kill us all with smoke. I have to talk to Pauline. She set the security alarm and someone turned it off and disabled the smoke alarms. They blocked all the balcony doors from the outside.”

“And you think it was the killer?”

“It has to be someone familiar with the inn’s security system. The Merciers were here and all of them heard Pauline say she was leaving for the day. Any of them could have done it.”

“Charisse or Armande. Damn it all, Drake, it always comes back to them. Mahieu is taken with that girl.”

“So is Saria.” Drake shook his head. “But she’s got the brains, knows chemistry and certainly is always around when something goes wrong.”

“Just damn it,” Remy said.

18

“HURRY, Drake, hurry,” Saria chanted i
n a whisper. She repeated his name over and over, a mantra to save her.

The bathroom was quite small, much smaller than her room, but it was at the farthest point of the house away from the sitting room where Elijah and Joshua and her brothers were gathered. She bit down hard on her thumbnail as she paced the few feet across the tiled floor.

“You have to get here fast.”

She’d promised him she wouldn’t leave tine. fety of her brothers or his men, and she knew she couldn’t, but she was fast losing control of the situation and she
needed
him. Right. Now.

Her back arched and she muffled a cry as she dropped to the cool tiles on her hands and knees, dragging air into her lungs, to breathe away the burning fire consuming her. Her breasts felt swollen and achy. Her skin was hot. Molten lava seemed to be in her veins. Something alive raced under her skin, so that she itched, and if she looked, she could see it moving. The pushing up of her skin made her feel slightly sick to her stomach. Between her legs, she was on fire. There was no other word for it, a fierce conflagration burning out of control.

“This can’t be happening. Not now. Not in front of my
brothers.
” Her face flamed bright red. She had to stifle a sob.

Deep inside, her female leopard stretched and preened, pushing her rump into the air, until Saria found herself sliding sensuously across the floor. Her jaw ached, her teeth felt too full for her mouth. She could hear the conversation in the front of the house, although the men spoke in low murmurs. There was no way to concentrate on what they were saying, even when she tried to distract herself. Her joints ached and popped with every movement and she couldn’t stay still, her body undulating nearly out of control.

For a time she breathed deep, in and out, a form of meditation, trying to relieve the burning need that built and built, coiling tighter and tighter inside of her until she was afraid she’d go insane. Her fingers curled into claws and the tips of her fingers hurt, pinpoints of pain that only were relieved when she dug them into the cool tiles. The scratch marks horrified her. She had to get out of the house before she destroyed it.

Her clothes hurt her skin and her skin was too tight, stretched over her bones until it was thin and threatening to tear. A low sob escaped. She glanced at the window, her only escape. Her vision blurred, strange bands of color streaking across her vision. The scent of male leopards inundated her and she groaned in despair.

“Drake.” She whispered his name again, aloud, to give her strength. She’d promised him she’d stay in the protection of her family and his men, but like this, she was a danger to everyone.

She staggered to her feet, her hands cupping her aching breasts. They felt too heavy for her frame. Inflamed. In need. She could barely breathe with such desperate need. Somehow she made it to the window. Her hands fumbled at the windowsill, nearly useless, her fingers bent and curved, so painful that anything she came into contact with only added to her misery. She wouldn’t leave—not yet. She’d hold out to the last possible second, waiting for Drake to come back, but she had to have fresh air.

It was late afternoon. He must have waited to talk with Pauline and help arrange for cleaners to come in. That would be like him. He would take responsibility for everyone around him. She clenched her teeth and pain exploded in her mouth. Drake needed to get to her fast and help her figure out what to do, where to go, and how to get her leopard out.

She shoved the window open and stuck her head out, gulping in the fresh air. Her beloved swamp was only a few feet away. She could just crawl out the window and find her favorite tree and wait outside for Drake. If anything happened, she wouldn’t be stripping in front of her brothers and trying to seduce one of Drake’s friends.

The heavy fohifted. She inhaled again and her leopard went wild. A male leopard stood only a few feet from her, waiting silently in the trees.
Joshua.
Her leopard clawed at her, edgy, in a dangerously amorous mood. Her hands went to her shirt, opening the first button before she could stop herself.

“Are you all right, Saria?”

She’d never noticed what a sexy voice he had, what a hot male scent. Saria swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying to understand when she was so consumed with Drake how another man might suddenly be so appealing to her. She’d never looked twice at Joshua. It had always been Drake from the moment she set eyes on him. She wanted him, wanted to live her life with him. She craved being in his arms. His kisses. Those mind-numbing, hot, sexy kisses that went on forever. She lost herself in those kisses.

“I need Drake right now. Can you get him for me?”

Her voice didn’t sound like her own. Tears burned behind her eyes. She had no escape. She didn’t dare go outside where Joshua stood guard. She didn’t trust herself to be alone with another man, not while her leopard was in such a sexual frenzy. Concentrating on Drake, the taste of him, the way he looked at her with his golden stare, helped to steady her.

“He’s on his way. Elijah called the inn and Miss Pauline said he left,” Joshua said. He didn’t come out of the trees, but stayed a good distance from her. It was clear he was trying to keep her scent away from his leopard, but he didn’t abandon her. “Are you afraid?”

“A little. I don’t know what to expect.”

“The first time you shift is scary,” Joshua admitted, his voice matter-of-fact.

Saria knew what it had to cost him to stay with her and keep talking as if nothing was wrong when his leopard had to be close to a thrall. His calm voice steadied her. Drake trusted Joshua to keep her safe. She would have to do the same.

“You feel like you might be losing yourself, because you have to let go to let your leopard emerge, but you’re still there. It’s hard to explain until you experience it, but once you’re fully a shifter, you’re both leopard and human. You draw on each other’s strength. It’s just that first letting go that is frightening.”

“She feels out of control.”

He laughed softly. “So does my leopard. Your leopard’s chosen Drake’s leopard. She wouldn’t allow another one to come too close, that’s why it’s so dangerous. Once she’s actually made up her mind, she’ll entice every male in sight, but if they get out of hand, she’ll tear them up.”

“That’s horrible.” Saria hissed at her leopard.
I knew you were a hussy
. She pushed her forehead against the windowsill, wanting to weep. Her body wouldn’t stay still and even the night breeze couldn’t cool her rising temperature. “What if he doesn’t come and I can’t hold her back? She’ll have to go into the swamp and I promised him . . .”

“Elijah and I will look after you. We’re strong enough to control our leopards.”

She didn’t want Drake’s men to witness her behavior. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. She had no idea what her leopard would do, how far she would go to entice a male to her, but the way her body felt, she was afraid. She needed Dake desperately.

THE scent of a female leopard in heat was strong, permeating the dock and trail leading up to the Boudreaux home as Drake, Remy, Jerico, Evan and Jeremiah stepped off the boat. Drake’s leopard leapt and roared, so that blood thundered in his ears and pulsed madly through his temples. Almost instantly his muscles began to contort, his mouth filling with teeth. He forced himself to breathe deeply, holding back the change.

Jeremiah stopped dead right there on the dock. Jerico and Evan walked only a few more feet toward the house before stopping. Remy swore under his breath. Drake ignored him and broke into a run.

“She’s all right,” Remy called after him. “My brothers wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

Drake didn’t turn around. How could Saria possibly be all right? Her leopard was throwing off enough hormones to call in every male for hundreds of miles. She had to be scared and embarrassed and what the hell had he been doing anyway? Pauline could have handled the mess at the inn without him. He could have waited for a shower and for Pauline to wash his clothes while they made all the necessary calls to the cleaners. Damn. He’d been selfish, thinking of his own comfort, not Saria’s. He knew she was close to the emerging. Hell. They all knew it. His first duty was to Saria. Always. Forever. And he’d let her down.

He burst through the front door, his body so painful and sensitive, he was already tearing at his shirt to get it away from his skin. Saria’s brothers jumped to their feet, all looking in rough shape. They had obviously stretched their control to the limit, their leopards roaring with the demand to protect and keep her safe from any strange males.

“Where is she?”

His leopard raked him, desperate to be released, to fend off all rivals for his lady’s affection. Drake couldn’t help but notice that Joshua and Elijah weren’t in the room. And neither was Saria. His throat thickened, changing his vocal cords so that little would make sense but a growling challenge. Heat was already banding in colors and his skin felt too tight around his shifting bones.

“She’s in the bathroom at the far end of the hall,” Mahieu said.

Drake was already following the scent, aware Remy was right behind him as he leapt the expanse of the hall, landing in a crouch just outside the door. He didn’t knock, but jerked it open. Saria whirled around to face him and Drake suppressed a groan as Saria’s eyes locked with his. Her irises were nearly gone, ringed now with all gold. She looked frightened, twisting the fingers of her hands together until her skin was nearly white.

Drake couldn’t imagine how she felt. Her leopard had to be clawing for supremacy, knowing she was in the vicinity of males. Saria had to fight to keep her body under control when her leopard wanted seduction, plain and simple. Beyond her, out the window, he not only saw, but smelled her two guards. Elijah and Joshua both were sweating, staying as far from Saria as possible. He forced himself to give them a small salute, and nod of thanks, when his leopard raged at their close proximity. His presence allowed the others to get away from her, taking their leopards out of harm’s way.

Remy swore under his breath. “You have to get her out of here before something happens. This is a bad situation.”

Saria couldn’t hae failed to hear her brother. She blinked rapidly, almost as if she might burst into tears. Her eyes were overbright.