Entangled Interaction (2 page)

With the fragile peace between humans, vampires, and shifters on a slippery fence, the leaders of all groups came together years ago and created the Peace Protection Division. Enforcers were hired from all varieties of genetic carrying people in order to crack down on inter-species violence. Wills, my husband, also an Enforcer with the PPD, died in the line of duty. For four long years, the company listed him as MIA, leaving me hanging without closure. Until one night, the local vampire king told me the truth. My husband was gone. Forever. I, Shyanne McDaniel, became a widow at the ripe old age of twenty-five.

After Wills' MIA status, I was devastated, being left with newborn twin sons. With great support and encouragement, I managed to pull my life back together and make steps forward, including enrolling in college classes. A research paper for psychology class on human interaction sent me stumbling into a strip club. There, I met Meat, a liger alpha shifter and the new man in my life. Ten days ago, I blurted out some information I had overheard in a private conversation, which put me on a vampire's menu, a female shifter's death list, and sent my boyfriend, the second man I ever loved, packing.

"You might want to shave those legs. There's a box with a new dress on your bed. Be ready by six." He spun and began to walk back toward the house.

I sputtered in shock. "What? Wait. What did you say?"

He paused long enough to turn around and flash a wicked grin, full of fang and mischief. "Don't be late. We're going out on the town, and you don't want people to think you're a rag mop, right?"

Before I could protest, he disappeared.

"Dang meddling brother." I mumbled to myself as I checked my watch.
Wonderful.
He gave me a whole two hours warning.

I stepped clumsily from the flowerbed and headed toward the front porch, consoling myself with thoughts of Bas, catnip, and pushing him into koi ponds.

* * * *

An hour and a half later, I stood before the full-length mirror and decided my adopted brother would not only be swimming in the koi pond, but I might have to stock a few piranhas before shoving him in.

The little black dress certainly lived up to its billing. Little. The upper portion fit just snug enough to whisper of curves and angles. The cleavage dipped low, blatantly teasing and hinting at what lay just beneath the soft material. Finally, the mid-thigh length skirt flared out, allowing for easy leg movement.

Bending over, I slipped one foot into the matching black flats. There were a pair of three-inch heels in the box, but I quickly discarded that notion. I wanted to actually be able to walk without ending up in the ER for a fractured ankle. While in that position, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and made a startling discovery. Attaining such a bent over state would give every person in range more than an eyeful of Shy parts. My boobs threatened to spill out, while the skirt rode up enough to flash my hot pink bikini bottoms. If I dropped anything on the floor someone else would just have to pick it up in my stead. Otherwise, I'd be on total display like a Playboy centerfold during her photo session.

The dress served one purpose. Meat market night at the dance club.

I would rather face a hungry vampire than to go clubbing. Toss in this slinky dress, and I preferred to face a whole horde of the fangy blood slurpers.

"You ready?" Bas called from the threshold of my bedroom.

I spun around and snorted. "I can't wear this. I feel like I'm auditioning for Hugh Hefner in this thing."

A wide amused smile appeared on his face. "You're such a dramatic." He chuckled as he stepped closer, holding out one of my necklaces.

I quickly took it and snapped it into place. The silver reflected light while drawing attention to my endowment. "I don't think I'm ready for this." The words came out whispery and unsteady.

He wrapped me in a tight embrace, allowing me to rest my head on his broad chest. "You can't convent yourself here like a gnarled old hobbit."

I much preferred being a turtle, sticking my head back inside my shell when faced with going out again. My heart still bled, and my self-esteem ranked at an all-time low.

"Hobbits are lucky," I grumbled against his chest.

He snorted against my recently curled hair. "They live in caves with bats and dank conditions. I'm not sure, but I think they even eat bugs."

I drew back to look up into his face. "I can do the cave thing. Caves have a constant temperature year round. I would just have to supply some amenities. And, hey, bats produce bat poop. You collect it and sell it as fertilizer. Extra income."

"And the bugs?"

I shrugged. "Exterminator?"

He chuckled, gave me a squeeze, then tugged me to the door.

"Come on, hobbit. We have an appointment with the real world."

The boys met me at the bottom of the stairs. Jessica stood behind them with a wide grin on her face. I rolled my eyes, knowing she bore some responsibility for the skimpy dress I wore.

"Mommy. Pretty."

I ruffled Sasha's hair. "Thank you."

"Uncle Bas and you going on date?" Chance looked up at me, his little brows furrowing.

"Umm. No, honey. I'm not going out on a date with your uncle. He and I just happen to be going to the same place. So we're going together."

"You going to see Meat?" Sasha's eyes lit up in hope.

A sharp knife stabbed me through my heart. "Not tonight, honey." I leaned over and gave them both a big hug. Glancing up, I found Jessica staring at me with a sad smile. "Thank you for watching the boys for me."

"No problem." She pulled a piece of lint off my clothes. "Go knock 'em dead."

"I'll try." With those words, Bas escorted me out the front door.

Chapter 2

The club Bas dragged me to turned out to be fairly interesting. Obviously, it catered to the shape shifter population but accepted other species as long as everyone played nice. Music thumped and young toned bodies shimmied on the dance floor. Tables formed a perimeter around the large wooden floor, allowing patrons to sit, talk, and appraise the crowd for potential private entertainment later.

Bas headed in his own direction, hooked up with a couple of buddies, judging by their friendly banter. All three stood at the bar, chatted, and watched the females as if sizing each one up as a potential mate.

A handful of men approached me, asked about dancing or buying me a drink. One bold guy just came right out and asked about doing the naked body bop at his apartment. I tactfully and gently turned them all down. Meat market wasn't my style. Besides, despite what Bas thought, I really wasn't over Meat.

Meat. More than once my thoughts turned to him, wondering where he was and who he spent his nights with. A dozen times in the past few days I'd made up my mind to head to the strip club, to confront him, to try to patch together the rip in our relationship. Each time I remembered his anger, how I broke his trust, and chickened out. For the life of me, I had no idea how to prove to him I could squirrel away secrets and protect his family with my silence. I had a feeling until I found a way tracking him down would prove a worthless cause.

"Is this seat taken?"

Glancing up, I found a young brunette with shoulder-length hair staring down at me with a smile.

"No." I gestured to the vacant wooden chair. "It's all yours."

The sheer natural beauty and grace of the woman screamed shifter in my mind. Not surprising since the club catered to the species.

"Thanks." She plopped down, a bottle of water in hand, and glanced across the room. "Not much to choose from."

"I haven't been really looking."

She tilted her head, studied me for a long moment, then spoke again. "I'm Jasmine, by the way."

"Shy."

Her eyebrow arched, but she didn't question the odd name. Instead, she crossed her legs and leaned toward me. Deep brown eyes twinkled with interest. "Giving up on men entirely?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I just broke up with my boyfriend. My own stupidity. Since I can't figure out how to mend things, I might as well throw in the towel."

She tsked at me. "Not so fast, honey. First of all, any man worth having is worth fighting for. Secondly, if he's not worth fighting for, then you should consider some rebound sex."

"Rebound sex?" I blinked at her.

Jasmine swallowed a drink. "Best kind. No strings attached. Just a hot hunk out to rock your world."

I pondered her words for a moment. "If there are no strings attached, why would he be so concerned with 'rocking my world'?" I did the air quotations. "Why wouldn't he be into everything for himself and make me responsible for my own orgasms?"

She shook her head. "Boy, you've been running with the wrong crowd or seeing the wrong men. The good ones can't help but make your pleasure a priority. It's attached to their ego, after all."

This was news to me. "Really?"

"Yep."

"How do you know so much?" I plucked at my dress sleeve and casually glanced around the room, finding Bas dancing with a pretty redhead.

"Simple. My parents own this club. I've been here almost as much as I've been anywhere else. Seen the happenings, tried them for myself."

"And how did it work out for you?"

She grinned mischievously. "Some great sex, but lacking in the commitment department."

"Ain't that the truth," I concurred based on just about every woman's complaint about men and their wild oats.

She caught the location of my gaze. "Now, that one has potential. Fills out those jeans nicely."

I snorted.

"Are you blind? He's one hot tamale." She gaped at me.

I couldn't help but grin. "Maybe. But he also happens to be my brother. The one who dragged me out on the town, lest I wither away an old widow."

Jasmine did a double take. "I don't get it. You're human and he's…"

"Not. We adopted one another a while back."

"Okay…"

"Don't ask. It's way too complicated."

She matched my smile. "Wasn't going to. I'm too tired for my simple brain to figure out complicated family trees, especially those lacking similar DNA."

"Good. Because honestly, I don't understand much past one branch down, myself."

Jasmine smiled and sipped from her bottle of water. We both checked out the rest of the room. A handful of couples boogied on the dance floor to the pounding beat. Other people occupied tables and the stools at the bar, watching the action with avid interest.

"Since your parents own this club, I take it you live around here."

"Most of the time. I've been in Australia the past six months. Just got home this week."

"Wow. Australia?"

"Yep. I'm an environmental engineer. Spent the time researching landfill leachate treatment."

"What's that?" Interested, I sat forward in order to hear her better in the loud room.

"Leachate is the organic and inorganic molecules that are dissolved or suspended in water, basically existing in the waste from the landfill. I was studying how to manage leachate through new or hypothetical treatment methods to prevent pollution to the soil and ground areas and water sources."

I blinked. I sort of understood the gist. Chemistry was never my strong suit in school. "So you're basically trying to keep the landfills from contaminating the ground and water?"

She beamed. "Exactly."

Score one for me. "Sounds like a necessary and very valuable job."

"I like it and the fact I'm trying to preserve the environment for generations to come."

After all, shifters tended to live many centuries and would probably enjoy a clean and stable environment to live in for their extended life. Who wanted to end up living in a wasteland by their mid-life? Made perfect sense once I thought about it.

"Thank you." I grinned at her.

She tiled her head. "For what?"

"For being a good person and working to save the planet."

"Thanks." Jasmine took another sip of her drink and raked the room with her gaze. A slow song began. "Dare you to find a man and dance to this."

"I'm not sure…"

She arched an eyebrow. "Dare you."

"Fine." I set my water bottle down and quickly raked the room. Finding one man, I hurried over, grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" He wrapped his arms around me and started moving while staring down at me with skepticism written clearly on his face.

"Jasmine dared me to dance with a man." I met Bas's gaze steadily.

He snorted and turned me in a circle. "Of all the men here, of course you picked me."

"Well, yeah. I don't know them."

"The point of tonight was to get out and meet some men. See if any of them might be worth dating."

"I thought the point of tonight was to get me out of the house. Period."

The black panther shifter shook his head. "Stubborn as a mule."

I rested my head on his chest. "No. Just not ready to jump back into the dating game, and rebound sex isn't my style."

"Rebound sex?"

"Yeah. Jasmine said rebound sex is hot and hardcore."

"Who is this Jasmine?"

"An environmental engineer whose parents own this club. I'm sure she's a shifter but not sure what kind."

He glanced over at the table where I sat. I felt him tense for a moment before easing once more. Lifting my head, I peered into his face. "What is it?"

Bas shook his head. "Nothing."

"By the way, she thinks you fill out your pants nicely."

A wicked grin crossed his face. "Does she now?"

"Yep."

The dance ended, and I headed back to the table, Bas right behind me. Regaining my seat, I quickly did the introductions. "Bas, this is Jasmine. Jasmine, this is Bas."

She held out her hand and beamed when he kissed her knuckles. "Honored."

"Oh, such a charmer." She turned her attention to me. "Dancing with your brother is borderline cheating."

I shrugged. "You just dared me to dance with a man."

"You'll have to forgive her. Shy's practicing her mule impersonation tonight."