It was a nice thought and it put her in a better mood. “So, Clara said you were attacked and . . . made a were early? How did you cope?”
Renata shrugged. “I guess I just had to. And kinda like you, it wasn’t exactly the easiest transition. You got one thing goin’ for you though, and that’s backup. I got jumped at Carnival. Filho da puta. He was hot, I was sixteen and drunk –”
“Not exactly Mr. Right?”
“Wasn’t even ‘Mr. Right Now.’ Drug me off into an alley and I thought I was gonna get lucky. Lose my virginity and everything. Then he changes and bites me in the fucking leg and is trying to drag me off into the fuckin’ jungle.”
“How’d you get away?”
“I didn’t. Well, not by myself anyway. I was kicking and screaming, but I was sure I was going to die, y’know? I was swinging anything I could get at him, but it mostly just pissed him off and made ‘im bite harder. But then I saw someone or somethin’ jump on top of him and start driving a knife into his back. Turned out it was edged with silver.”
“Apparently my would be sugar-daddy had been a naughty kitty and was hunting humans, which is against Tribunal law, and he was also doing it way too close to civilized areas. Tribunal had sent a bad-ass vampire chick to kill him, and she found him just in time to save my hide. She killed the fucker and came over to me. I thought I was next of course, but she just told me to calm down. She helped wrap up my leg and explained what the guy was and what was going to happen to me. I didn’t believe her, she showed me the fangs. Still, it took me longer than you to accept the whole magical world crap.”
“What happened next?’
“She got me in touch with a local alpha were, but he was a snake changer. Not a lot in common, but a good guy. Woman who saved my life left a card in case I was ever looking for full-time employment in the States. I liked her style, and she liked the fact that I was a fighter, I guess. So I learned to take care of myself, learned how to take care of others, then showed up here about eight years ago.”
“Wait, that assassin . . . was it Banshee?”
Renata grinned. “Ding ding ding! Give that girl a prize. Yeah, Banshee has always been a total bad-ass, so the Tribunal sent her and some assassins from the other houses down to look for the rogue were. Seems that South America’s vamps aren’t all that powerful comparatively and most of the were community wouldn’t leave their territories. The Rio alpha was a sot and didn’t do shit. I hear he got . . . replaced, shortly after this incident.”
“So I’m not the first stray Shane’s picked up?”
“Not exactly. Admittedly, you’re the first one that he didn’t establish a relationship with before bringing on board. I talked with him remotely a lot. And I’d also figured out the whole ‘what turns me on’ thing a year before I got here.” Renata smiled. “I keep forgetting how little experience you have. What was it, just over two weeks ago you were a good cop who had no idea the rest of this shit existed.”
“Now I’m smack dab in the middle of it trying to learn to swim.” Shamira sighed.
“But I’ll bet you’re cute in a bathing suit.”
Shamira tried to glare, but Renata was having none of it. “Hey, I would pay good money to see you in a bikini. And make one snide comment about yourself and –”
“And what? You’ll cough up a hairball? Take your big ball of yarn and go home? What is the kitty going to . . . . Ouch!”
Renata had reached over and pinched one of Shamira’s nipples with substantial force, making Shamira pull back on instinct and rub the wounded nub. She realized that she was probably rubbing it more than was warranted, partially because she was savoring the experience more than she would admit.
“If I weren’t rushing for a plane –,” Renata muttered, licking her lips.
“When you get back maybe?” Shamira replied, trying her best to be sly without sounding anxious.
“We’ll see. I may be bring some folks back with me, so –”
“Not the spider guy, please? He’s just . . . it makes my skin crawl.”
Renata laughed. “You might want to talk to Banshee about working on that fear of yours, because I’m definitely bringing the werespider back with me if he’s interested. His resume is great, his current employers are pissed that he might be leaving, and he’s a total dominant man-babe! And werespiders are supposed to be near-fucking-impossible to sneak past, making them great guardians.”
Shamira shuddered at the idea of being dominated by a giant arachnid guy. Maybe she should go talk to Banshee.
The rest of the trip went well, with the two women once again trying to repair and/or build an amiable relationship. By the time they’d reached the parking garage, things were good between them, and the promised each other to spend some time just hanging out when Renata got back. The werejaguar made a comment about “if Clara lets you out of her sight,” but Shamira blew it off. She and Clara were just friends. Good friends. Good friends who had amazing sex.
Shamira gave Renata a hug, climbed into the trunk of the Jag and shadow jumped back to her closet. She peeked out the door and saw Clara still asleep, snoring in a monumentally cute way. Shamira shirked her clothes and crawled back into bed. Before she could even settle her head, Clara turned, smiled, kissed Shamira softly on the lips, then cuddled into the muscular woman’s chest and went back to sleep. Without even thinking about it, Shamira’s heart took a beat.
———— ———————–
Later that afternoon . . .
———— ———————–
Shamira was a bit grouchy. She hadn’t gotten much sleep at all that day, and then Shane had “summoned” her to the golf-course for a round with him and Banshee. Clara had grinned when her lover was grumbling and getting dressed, then the Native American herself had to report to the control room to relieve Raul for security detail. Shamira dressed up, grabbed the fancy new clubs that Shane had bought for her, then made her way to the first tee.
When she got there, Lillian was also present. She was dressed in skintight black-spandex suit that contrasted nicely with her fiery-red hair. She also had a cherry-red ball gag in her mouth, with leather straps leading from it around her jaw and secured at the back of her neck. She was holding an umbrella over Shane, trying to look meek. Shamira just thought it made the former swimsuit-model-turned-necromancer just look sultry.
‘Why can’t I look like that? Duh . . . she’s a model! She’s had training and crap. So she’s Shane’s toy today. I wonder how it feels to be human and female, but be dominated by a male vampire?’ She watched as the umbrella that was shading Shane drifted a bit and sunlight was able to reach him. He glared at her, reached out and then slapped her small pert breasts through her outfit. Lillian’s body shuddered, but she otherwise didn’t move or make a sound. She didn’t even blink. For a moment, Shamira felt a pang of envy.
“Shamira, so glad you could join us. Renata get to the airport all right?”
“Yes sir,” she replied, almost forgetting herself and slipping into a submissive role. She had taken the day off. “She and I had a long talk. I apologized a lot.”
“Don’t feel you need to apologize for everything, but it was good that you did. I know you’re proud, and so is she. So no problems working with her in the future?” he asked, grabbing his driver and striding towards the tee. Shane always hit first.
“No, no problems working together.”
“And playing together?” He swung, driving his ball straight down the fairway. “She and Clara have both told me of your reservations.” Shane sounded serious now as he put his club away and got under the sun-umbrella. “You came to me, Shamira, and YOU told me you were all in. Were you lying?”
Shamira was now a little angry. “I don’t lie,” she replied stoutly. “I thought that I was ready, but maybe –”
“No ‘maybes’, Shamira. I want you on my team and in my house, but I need for you to be sure. I don’t want to be counting on you and have you back out on me –”
It was Shamira’s turn to interrupt. “No.”
Shane slowly turned, his face a mask. “What do you mean by ‘No’?”
“No, you don’t get to do that. You can question my resolve in regards to the whole submissive thing all you want, but you don’t get to call me a coward out there in the real world. I’ve never backed down when someone was in trouble and needed my help, including you. Okay, maybe you didn’t really need my help, but I didn’t know that. I’m not afraid to die –”
“You are not afraid to die, but ‘living’ seems to make you nervous,” Shane said, his voice more forgiving. He had wanted to light a match under her and remind her that she didn’t have to be anyone’s doormat. Unless that sort of thing turned her on. And after getting a look in that delightful head of hers, he was pretty sure that there were still many things that turned her on that he didn’t know about yet.