Gambler's Folly (Bookstrand Publishing Romance) (21 page)

“I thought that might be where you’d gone,” she said, smiling up at him. “I just got up a few minutes ago. Have you eaten anything yet?”

They had some fruit and cheese with their coffee, and then he took her for a walk around the property. He had ten acres of land with lake access, most of it covered in trees. A mix of hardwoods and conifers, they perfumed the air lightly with the moisture off the water. This, Karianna thought, is perfect heaven.

After a good walk, they sat and dangled their feet in the water, enjoying time to relax in each other’s company, one of the few times since they’d gone skiing. The first few days at the beach had been nice, but what with the explosion and all, the net result of the excursion had been more stress.

Damiano leaned back against the bank, hands crossed beneath his head. “Yes, I believe you are right. If I had to design heaven, this would be it.”

She lay down next to him, running her hand up underneath his shirt to rub his chest. “Of course, I don’t suppose they allow hot little demons like you into heaven, do they, cara?” he teased. Rolling over suddenly, their restful morning became much more active for a while, but quite a lot of tension was released.

“Look at my hair, Damiano,” she exclaimed, picking the leaves and twigs out of it. “This is your fault. I should make you wash it.”

“How is it my fault? You were the one with her hands under my shirt, massaging my chest, fingernails teasing my skin. What did you expect me to do, cara? Go to sleep?”

“I still say you should wash my hair. It’s going to take forever to get it clean and combed out.”

Once back at the house, they got into the shower and he helped with her hair, massaging the foamy shampoo into her scalp. Finally all rinsed out, his mouth found the back of her neck again and they found a better way to have some fun in the shower.

“You really are going to kill me, cara,” he said. “I didn’t realize a person could die of overexertion from sex.”

“It’s old age setting in, Damiano. I should have found a younger man,” she teased.

“I’m not so old I can’t keep you in line,” he added. “So you might want to watch what you say, before you get into trouble.”

It was too late for lunch, so they fixed a tasty dinner with the supplies the guys had brought up. After eating, they walked out around the lake, hand in hand, enjoying the evening. They met Paolo on their walk, who assured them everything was fine.

“Nobody else is here, Damiano. It is not the season when most people come to the lake, so it is perfect for you and your mate.” To Karianna he added, “Don’t worry about a thing, Signora. We’ve got it under control.”

Damiano paused for a moment, his eyes unfocused, nostrils flared. “Ah, there they are,” he said. “Are you sure you want Dante that far out?”

“Si, Damiano. The roads come up the other way, by Marco. Only wildlife or someone on foot will be up there. Wildlife is no problem, and anything on foot is prey. So it’s fine.” His smile was definitely predatory.

After they left Paolo to his evening, Karianna asked Damiano what he had done just a few moments ago.

“Oh, that. Well, I generally know where someone or something is if I want to find it. I just picture it clearly and then I see it where it is. It is a talent I have, a gift. It helps me in my business sometimes.”

“Does it always work?”

“Usually. Sometimes people are difficult, if they are asleep or unconscious, but otherwise it’s fine.”

Still not sure about it, she accepted it as one more of those things she’d have to get used to. It might be handy, she thought. You’d never have to worry about someone being lost. Just ask Dam.

The next few days were lazy, interspersed with sudden desires and passionate interludes up to seven or eight times a day. Karianna asked Damiano about it one afternoon. “Why is it, with the bonding, that sex seems so very urgent, so suddenly? I know your mother said it would be this way for a while, but why?”

“Sex acts as a bond between mates, even normal humans. It creates a link between the two of us. As bond mates, our body chemistry is changing, so we will remain mated for life by choice. Attraction is caused by various chemicals and hormones which draw us together. The culmination of this attraction is mating. Beyond that, I’m not sure how it works, just that the chemical changes push us to pair frequently during this adjustment period.”

“Well, how long is it going to last?”

“From what I’ve been told, it can take up to a month. I guess when we start to slow down, we can figure we’ve made the adjustment.”

About ten days into their retreat, Damiano took a stroll down toward the lake. Thinking about taking a nap, Karianna watched from the balcony, until she saw him go into the water. Right where he went in, there was a break in the trees so she could watch for a moment. Since he was a very strong swimmer, she knew he’d be fine, especially with the others watching.

Dozing in the chair, she rested for a while before she decided the glass of lemonade she wanted would not come to her. She looked lazily out the window toward the lake on her way to the kitchen. Not quite believing what she saw, she blinked her eyes and looked again. No, there really was a huge black cat strolling up the hill toward the house.

It had to be Damiano, she thought, so she grabbed a towel and went out to meet him. “Damiano?” she asked, not sure what to expect. He made a sound similar to a roar, only quieter, and rubbed against her leg with his wet coat.

“No, you don’t,” she told him. “Let’s get you dried off.” Bending over to scrub him off with the towel, she was soon soaking wet from the spray off his coat as he shook off the water.

Trying to back away from the shower, she tripped and thumped down on the hillside behind her. A happy and damp Damiano stalked over and began to lick her face.

“Stop!” she commanded as she smacked his nose, not actually thinking about it before she did. With a loud roar, the huge cat pushed her down on her back, lay down on her and proceeded to thoroughly wash her face in spite of her protests.

Finished with her face, he stood up and walked a few feet away. It looked like a trick of the light or a shifting shadow, but in seconds the black leopard stood up on his hind legs and became Damiano the man, totally naked and glaring at her sullenly.

“What?” she asked, as she stood up to face him.

“You slapped my nose!” he exclaimed. “It still stings.”

“Well then don’t lick my face. It’s nasty.”

“It is not. Besides, that’s not what you say when I…”

“We’re not talking about that, Damiano, and you know it. It’s completely different.”

“I still think you need a bath.” With a rush, he had snatched her off her feet and was striding toward the lake.

“No! Damiano, don’t you dare,” she demanded, as he paid no attention at all.

Instead of throwing her into the water, he continued walking until the water was up to his chest. He then simply released her into the lake and laughed at her floundering until she got turned around properly.

Slapping her hand at the water, she sent a large cascade toward his face. After that, the water fight started in earnest, and continued until they were both too tired to go on.

“We should get back and get some dry clothes,” she said. “Well, I should get dry clothes. You should just get some clothes on, parading out here in the nude.”

“I was fine until you slapped me. I would have come up to the house, gone into the bathroom and
changed
,
and put on some clothes after I got dry.”

“And track water all the way through the house with those great, huge, furry feet of yours?”

“I do not track water. By the time I got to the house, my feet would have been dry. And I always wipe them off at the door.” He sulked.

Once inside, they took a shower and got into some lounging clothes. After lunch, Damiano got over his mood. They took the rest of the afternoon to relax and play some games. As she might have guessed, Damiano was a bit of a card shark and sleight-of-hand artist. He had fun showing her card tricks for a while.

“Remind me never to bet against you, Dam,” she told him. “You are way too handy with those things.”

“It is useful in my business,” he answered. “To catch a crook, you have to understand the crook. If you can play his game, you can catch him playing it.”

“So you know what to look for, because you can do it yourself.”

“Exactly, Topolina,” he grinned. “I know a few others, too. Do you want to see?”

He chased her through the house until he caught her. And then they played a rather erotic sort of game.

After three weeks away, they decided they could probably think about returning to civilization. Their moods and tempers had evened out and their sexual life, while still exciting, had lost the sense of sudden urgency. Damiano told her they’d take a few more days, and then have a nice leisurely drive back home.

Their day had been delightful, walking through the woods by the lake. Damiano had changed and had a right old romp around. He was beautiful to watch as a leopard, his sleek black shape sliding through the shadows.

They were just about to go to bed when they heard a roar from one direction answered by another from the other side.

“That was Marco and Paolo,” Damiano told her as he swiftly ran to the balcony, losing clothes as he went.

Karianna heard the sounds again, only they were closer and joined by a third voice, growling loudly. She looked up as Damiano eased off the balcony and changed, his black coat blending into the night. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed a cup of tea and sat down to wait. This was definitely out of her league.

Soon, she heard sounds on the balcony. A naked Damiano came through the door, followed by three cats and a wolf, all glaring at each other, ears laid back against their heads.

“Karianna, cara, could you excuse us for a moment?” Damiano asked. In shock, she agreed and went into the bedroom. A minute later, Damiano joined her.

“I need to get some clothes for everyone,” he said. “Then you can come out and join us.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Of course, cara. Once we’re all dressed.”

When she went out to join the party, she saw Damiano, Paolo, Marco, Dante, and another man she’d never met before. He was tall, athletically built like the other men, and had salt-and-pepper hair, though he didn’t really look that old.

“Cara, let me introduce you. This is Nagi Shumanitu-tanka, or Shadow Wolf. Nagi, my mate, Karianna.”

“My pleasure,” he said, smiling and shaking her hand.

“How do you know each other?” she asked.

“Nagi occasionally works with me, not for me, but alongside. He sometimes has information I want, usually for a price,” he smiled.

“But he’s a wolf,” she insisted.

“Yes, and I’m a leopard. We’re natural competitors, both hunters, but we can be allies if the price is right.”

“Yes, I found something I thought Damiano would find interesting,” Nagi told her. “And now, I’ll be off. We’ll hunt together soon, yes?”

“I believe you’re right, Nagi. Go with the wind, Shadow.”

“Happy hunting, Leopard.”

As the were-wolf, Nagi, left, Damiano nodded to the other three men. “Check out what Nagi had to say. It could change the game plan.”

With that, Marco, Dante, and Paolo left as well, fading into the darkness. Damiano went out and brought his clothes in from the balcony.

“That’s one of the problems with changing,” he told Karianna. “Remembering where you left your clothes.”

“So, what was that all about?” she asked.

“Just business, cara, business.”

“How did he find us out here? Does he know about this place?”

“Cara, we’ve known each other for quite a while. He knows a lot about what I do, just as I know about him.”

“Well then, why did he come in as a wolf, through the woods, instead of coming up to the door?”

“It’s a game. How close can he get before we sense him? It’s fun.” He laughed at her expression and grabbed one of the last few apples in the dish.

“Do men ever grow up?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I hope not, cara. So boring.”

They finally got to bed, but Damiano’s sleep seemed troubled. Karianna wondered exactly what Nagi had brought him and how it affected his business, whatever it was. She took a long time to get to sleep, and her dreams were bizarrely inhabited with strange creatures out of legends and myths.

Morning was far too early and both of them were short-tempered from lack of sleep. “Why don’t you go for a swim or something?” she finally told Damiano. “For that matter, we can both go down to the lake and relieve a little tension. The water would feel good.”

“I think I’ll go for a run first,” he answered. Slipping out of his clothes, he changed in midstride, breaking into a full run as soon as his four feet hit the ground. Disappearing into the trees, she caught a brief glimpse of him rounding the point as she made her way to the water.

With the morning sun shining on the lake, the cool water felt marvelous, as Karianna floated on its surface. She turned and swam out a little farther, and then floated on her back once more. Just as she was getting completely relaxed, nearly dozing there in the sun, she heard a loud roar from the trees to her left. There was a second voice too, definitely a cat, but not one of her guys.

After swimming to the shore, she ran to the house, not sure she wanted to find out what was happening in the trees. Once safe behind the glass doors, she heard two more voices conversing with the first, and an answering cry from further away.

Quickly rinsing off the lake water, she dressed in comfortable, loose clothing, in case she needed to get physical. Trainers on her feet, she waited for Damiano to reappear. After nearly twenty minutes, she was rewarded by the sight of her mate trudging up the hill from the water. All three of his men were with him, restraining a fourth man, who obviously would rather be anywhere else. As they were all now in human form, and naked, she slipped into the bedroom to wait.

“Cara, once again we need clothing for four people. Anything at all will work. And if you could just stay in here until we’re finished, it would be best, I think.” Damiano rummaged around and found clothing for all concerned. With a kiss, he went out and closed the door.