YazminaLion Are (2 page)

Great. Somebody must have mistaken him for an exotic pet and wanted to sell him to some rich son of a bitch with a personal zoo. ”Get ready.”

“Get ready to do what?”

“To jump off the ship and swim to shore.”

She was startled. “Are you insane? We could die.”

“I’m a good swimmer. Or do you have a better idea?”

She looked hesitant. “I suppose this ship has a lifeboat.”

Lifeboat? That sounded like a better option than swimming. Arcan tipped his head at her. “Are you coming?”

If Yazmina hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes, she’d never have believed what she just saw. A lion turned into a man. A shapeshifter. She’d heard a legend when she was little about a lion that tricked a villager into giving up his daughter as its wife. The lion transformed into a handsome man on the wedding night. Then they lived happily ever after.

After Yazmina was over her initial shock, she wondered whether lore was inspired by true events. To some degree, it must be. Otherwise, how could she explain this man’s transformation?

The lion turned out to be a stunning-looking man. He had shinny golden hair that touched his shoulders. His eyes were feline yellow, the same as when he was a lion. He had a strong nose, masculine jaw and day-old stubble.

The man wore a white shirt and dark, dressy pants with a pair of brand-new loafers. She wondered how he got to keep his clothes after he shifted from his beastly form. She’d watched a few Hollywood movies over the years that featured werewolves. The man who turned into a wolf was always naked when he woke up the next morning. Could it be magic?

Her cheek burned hot when she realized that she might have unconsciously wished this man to be naked. Where did that come from? She’d never indulged herself in wanton daydreams. Perhaps it was because he was the most attractive man she’d ever met in person, and she was instantly taken with him.

Her face burned even hotter. Her pulse raced, but it wasn’t like before. It wasn’t fear that fueled this. It was something else. Undeniable attraction had come out of nowhere.

“That man isn’t human
,
”
a voice in her mind warned.

Perhaps. But she didn’t sense an ounce of malice from him. Unlike the captain of the ship. The captain was a human, and yet he’d imprisoned her without a second thought.

Her fear melted away and was replaced by hope. Surely this stranger could get them out of this situation. She might not be able to go to America, but at least she’d be free of this cage. Who knew what the captain might do to her? He hadn’t been hesitant when shoving her into a lion’s cage. There were worse fates than being a beast’s food. She could be raped or tortured, and she didn’t think she could face that. She’d rather die than bear the shame.

The man fiddled with the cage lock. “My name is Arcan. Arcan Rarh. What’s yours?”

She swallowed. “Yazmina Al-Rahad.”

“Yazmina.” He paused. “That’s a beautiful name. Just like you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. No one had ever praised her like that before, not even her own father. She hoped the man wouldn’t see her face like this. It would be embarrassing. She wasn’t wearing her veil, so she couldn’t hide behind it like she usually did.

“What were you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m a stowaway. I want to go to New York.”

“Stowaway? Why?”

“My father.” Yazmina faltered for a moment, pondering whether she should tell him the truth. Arcan seemed like a nice person. He had the look of a person who could be trusted, even though he was a stranger. She decided to tell him the truth. She needed an ally in a time like this. “My father arranged a marriage to a man I don’t love. I couldn’t accept it, so I ran away.”

Silence.

Yazmina instinctively looked up in his direction. He had a disbelieving expression on his face. His gaze was soft—sympathetic.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Arcan. “Did you tell your father you didn’t want to marry this man?”

“Here, women don’t get to decide their fate.”

“That sounds wrong. Tell you what, I’ll help you with your problem, but right now, let’s get out of this cage.”

He’d offered his help, and a new hope blossomed. Her burden felt lighter.

Yazmina shifted her attention to the heavy-duty steel lock. “How do you propose to get that open? We don’t have keys.”

Arcan leaned closer to her and studied her hair. “Give me your hairpin. Maybe I can pick the lock.”

“Pick the lock?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ah. I think I saw this on TV. I’ve watched plenty of western movies, you know?” She removed the pin and gave it to him. “Will this work?”

“Let’s find out. I did this a couple of times with my cousins when we were little. We loved playing detective.”

Arcan slid the pin into the lock and twisted it. She didn’t think this would work until she heard a click a few minutes later.

“Ah,” he said. “Apparently, I haven’t lost my touch.” He shot her a good-natured grin and winked.

A wicked thrill coursed through her. She was starting to like this man—a lot.

He opened the cage door and pulled up the tarp. A breeze of salty air quickened past them.

Yazmina took a deep breath. Freedom. She hated being confined in the shipping container. She also hated this cage.

Arcan took a small, measured step outside and looked around. He then offered her his hand. “It’s safe.”

The sky was beginning to darken. The sun was setting on the horizon, half-sinking into the rippling, deep-blue water. Arcan motioned her to keep close while he scouted the surroundings. The cage was placed between two stacked containers. Arcan stopped, eyes fixed on the tall bridge. When he was sure no one was watching the deck, he tugged her hand, urging her to follow.

They looked for a lifeboat. They didn’t find any. Instead, Yazmina found a life raft on the aft of the ship. It was stored in the locked canister. She knew what it was because her father had a big yacht that was equipped with a similar life raft. On a few occasions, her father had taken her sailing across the gulf for a family outing.

“Here it is,” she whispered, pointing at the canister.

Arcan’s gaze slid down. Yazmina couldn’t help admiring his gorgeous, luminous eyes. She’d never met someone with such a unique eye color.

“You sure?” he asked.

She nodded. “Every ship is required to have one of these. More for bigger vessels. It’s an inflatable raft. It has an air compressor built into it. It should be easy to operate.”

Arcan toyed with the canister to get it open. She helped him to unlock it and pull out the orange raft. He studied the instructions and it inflated. He pushed the round raft into the water.

“Our turn.” He looked at her. “Jump.”

She hesitated.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “Can you swim?”

“I can, but…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll jump together. Keep your body straight when you hit the water. It should minimize the impact. I got you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

His reassurance appeased her worries. She supposed she didn’t have any other option. She couldn’t stay on this ship. That would be suicide.

“On my count, one, two, three—”

She faltered at first, but then Arcan pulled her. She jumped with a squeal. She panicked as her body hit the water and went down like a stone. Her survival instinct kicked in and forced her to seek air to breathe. She pedaled up. Arcan found her and yanked her to the surface.

“Hold on to me!”

She clung on to him as he swam to the life raft. It seemed like forever before they reached it and he hoisted her up. Arcan kept swimming, and she asked why.

“No oars. I’ll push you until we reach land,” he said. His voice was hoarse. He paused to throw his loafers into the raft.

Yazmina held on tight. She silently prayed they wouldn’t be discovered by the ship’s crew or get sucked into its turbine.

Arcan steadily pushed forward. He seemed to know the direction they had to go in. She allowed herself a small measure of relief and put her hope in the man she’d just met to take her to safety.

Chapter Three

Arcan stood in dripping wet clothes in the hotel lobby ignoring the curious stares from the staff and the guests. He asked the girl behind the counter to get him a taxi. After more than three hours swimming, it was pure luck that they were able to reach a beachfront resort. It was dark now, so they didn’t attract attention when he pulled the life raft to the shore.

Yazmina looked nervous and twitchy. She kept glancing around as if she was afraid that someone would jump on her. Arcan placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her. She shot him a wan smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here soon,” he said.

The porter told him that the taxi had arrived. Arcan held Yazmina’s hand and ushered her out of the lobby. He gave the driver the name of the hotel where he was staying in Dubai. With a smooth lurch, the taxi coasted onto the main street.

Forty minutes later, they were in his hotel room in Le Meridian. Arcan locked the door and snagged the phone. He called Jackson to let him know that he was back in town. His business partner didn’t know the nature of Arcan’s beast. He thought Jackson must have been worried when he didn’t return from the club. They still needed to wrap up the loose ends of their business deal before they left Dubai on the weekend.

His call went straight to Jackson’s voicemail. Arcan left a short message asking him to call back.

“Are you hungry?” he asked Yazmina.

She gave him a tiny nod.

“Good. We can have a late dinner after we wash up. How about I go take a shower first then run downstairs to get you some new clothes? We can go to a restaurant afterward.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure, Yazmina.”

Arcan took a hot shower and changed into freshly laundered clothes. While Yazmina was in the bathroom, he placed a long-distance call to South Africa to talk to the pride alpha, Cyeon. His cousin was a lawyer. He oversaw the K’stal business, and Arcan thought Cyeon would be able to help him in this situation.

“I have a problem,” Arcan said after Cyeon picked up the call on the third ring.

“Why, cuz, I’m good, thank you for asking,” Cyeon mocked on the other end.

“Sorry, Alpha, I’m rather distraught.”

“Are you in jail?”

“No.”

“The stripper you were with last night turned out to be a guy?”

Arcan snorted. “Worse.”

“Talk to me.” Cyeon’s tone turned serious.

“I’m in Dubai. We had celebratory drinks last night, and I had a few too many… I blacked out. Apparently, I went lion, and the next day I found myself in a cage on a cargo ship headed to New York.”

“Where are you now?”

“In my hotel room.”

“How did you manage to get out?”

“I picked the lock and jumped ship with a life raft. The problem is, there was a stowaway with me when I woke up.”

“He was with you when you shifted?”

“
She
,” Arcan corrected. “The ship’s captain found the girl and shoved her into my cage. She freaked out at first, but we were able to smooth things over. Anyway, her name is Yazmina, and she’s running away from her arranged marriage. I promised her I’d help her.”

“Stowaway,” Cyeon muttered. A pause. “She wants to go to New York?”

“She told me she has family there that can help her. I wondered if you have connections that could help me obtain a passport and such.”

“Not in Dubai. I know a guy who could do an American or UK passport in America. Why don’t you escort her to the US embassy and ask for asylum.”

“Asylum, huh?”

“Tell them she’s a political refugee and her life is being threatened. I’ve heard some embassies have made exceptions in similar cases.”

“You sure they’ll give her asylum? I’m worried they’ll hand her over to her father. She told me her father is an influential man and has friends in high places.”

“A big-shot’s daughter, huh? That is complicated. You sure you want to dip your toes in that kind of water?”

“I know the risk. I promised her I’d help.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Very.”

“Bastard.” Cyeon laughed heartily. “Maybe I could charter a private jet to come pick you up and fly you to the US. We can smuggle her in as a flight attendant or something. Let me call some people first, and I’ll call you when I’m able to arrange something.”

“Great. By the way, I lost my phone when I blacked out. I’ll go buy a disposable and let you know my new number.”

“That works. What’s her name?”

“Yazmina. Yazmina Al-Rahad.”

“Al-Rahad. I’ll look into it.

“Thanks, Alpha.” Arcan disconnected the call and put the phone down. Yazmina was still in the shower. He retrieved some cash and a spare credit card from his bag, since his wallet was missing, and went to the hotel lobby. There were some boutiques on the ground floor that sold women’s clothing. He bought a few essentials and picked up a new disposable cell before returning to his room. Yazmina had just come out of the bathroom when he got in.

Arcan put his purchases on the bed and told her to change. He tried his new cell and gave his number to Cyeon as Yazmina went back to the bathroom. He also called Jackson again. This time his business partner answered.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jackson sounded pissed. “You ditched me in the club with a bunch of European chicks. They got rowdy after the third round, you know? One of them did a ‘girl gone wild’ kind of thing, and we all got the boot from the bouncers. What gives?”

“Sorry, I got food poisoning and spent the night at a clinic. But I’m okay now,” Arcan lied. He couldn’t reveal his secret to Jackson. His business partner wasn’t exactly a cat person. If Jackson knew he was a shifter, it would complicate their business relationship.

“Jesus Christ. Food poisoning?” Jackson seemed to have trouble taking that one in.

“Yeah, must be some stuff I ate. Local food didn’t agree with me.”

“Jesus.”

“Look, I know we still have a meeting with Bazrai tomorrow. I wonder if you can cover it for me? Just send the paperwork to my room, and I’ll sign it. I’ve decided to stay here another week.”