The Claimed (9 page)

Until Rafael could eliminate that worry, he would do what he had been charged to do by her parents: Watch and protect.

The Columns was a perfect choice, Victoria thought as she sat across the intimate width of the table opposite Christopher. The summer sun had begun to set, creating rosy pink and blue cotton candy clouds along the beachfront. The golden hues cast by the lights along the edges of the veranda and the votive candle in the middle of the table bathed Christopher’s face. Thanks to the dimness of the light, she could detect the thin aura surrounding him. Too weak to be full Hunter power, which relieved her somewhat, but not entirely since Shadows could hide their energy fields also.

Turning her attention to his physical being, she examined his handsome features. His masculine beauty struck her again as it had the night at the Convention Center and then again yesterday. Lush lashes framed dark compelling eyes. A wavy lock of thick cocoa-colored hair fell onto his forehead. He dragged the hair back and quirked his full lips into a sinfully sexy smile as he ordered a bottle of wine from the waitress.

“Do you live in town?” she asked, wondering why they had not crossed paths before the other night. The towns in this area were smallish in size and many of the native-born residents—the clam diggers as some liked to call themselves—were familiar with each other. That meant he was probably not a local, but one of the residents who descended on the Jersey Shore for the season.

“I grew up in New York City, but have a summer home down in Sea Girt,” he said as the waitress brought over the bottle of wine, uncorked it, and poured them each a glass.

“Ah,” she said after the waitress left to give them a few more minutes to peruse the menus.

He immediately jumped in with, “I know that, ‘ah.’ It’s the Benny ‘ah.’ ”

Victoria chuckled at his observation. The local folk used the derogatory term Benny for the tourists and seasonal home owners. Before she could respond, he added, “Would it make a difference if I said I was living here permanently now?”

“I think that warrants some slack,” she teased, and took only a moment to glance at the menu. The restaurant was within walking distance of her home. In fact, she and Christopher had decided to stroll down instead of driving since it was such a lovely night. Because the place was a longtime Shore tradition and a favorite with her and her friends, she knew the menu by heart.

Christopher likewise didn’t linger, closing the menu quickly and when the waitress came, it turned out that they were both ordering the seafood combo, chock full of sea scallops, stuffed shrimp, and flounder.

“We seem to have a lot in common,” he said after taking a sip of the white wine he had ordered.

“I love anything that has to do with the ocean. Who wouldn’t?” she said, raising her head as a breeze drifted over the veranda, carrying the fresh scent of the sea from the beachfront across the street. Caressing her with the power redolent in its embrace.

“Ryan, believe it or not. He hates the sand. I think he only tolerates the beach because of me,” Christopher advised with a boyish grin.

“Have the two of you been friends for long?” she asked, swirling her wine around in the glass before tasting it.

“All our lives. We’re both only children, so we’re like brothers. Our families have been linked for as long as I
can remember,” he acknowledged. “How about you? Any siblings?”

Victoria shook her head. “I’m an only child, too, but I have some great friends who are like sisters to me.”

“What about your parents? Do they live in the area?”

She nodded at his question and said, “My parents live about ten minutes away in a big home upriver. They run a fleet of charter and fishing boats out of the local marina. What about your parents?”

He hesitated and picked up his glass again. Then he took a bracing sip before he confessed, “You might say that I have what most would call a dysfunctional family. My mom died some time ago and my father is intent on controlling my life.”

“You’re not alone in that camp. Maybe it’s because we’re only children.” Victoria realized that in a way it was true. Quinchu pairings rarely resulted in multiple children since the release of energy during bonding seemed to cause damage to either one or both of the partners. As such, Quinchus were generally overly protective of their young.

“It could be,” he echoed, although Victoria sensed sadness in his words. Clearly he didn’t really buy that as the reason for his father’s overpowering ways.

“What do you do for a living?” she asked, wondering how someone so relatively young could afford one of the huge multi-million-dollar properties along the Sea Girt waterfront.

“I’ve patented a couple of software programs based on fluid dynamics. They’re used a lot in the automotive and aerospace industries.” He placed his glass on the table and reached for the bread basket. Picking it up, he offered her a piece.

Fluid dynamics?
she thought, and took one of the slices. She wondered if like Adam he had chosen a field that matched some affinity he might have, although the power she was detecting around him still couldn’t let her determine whether he was friend or foe.

“So how did you decide to open up a surf and sail shop?” Christopher asked, peering at her intently in the waning light of dusk.

She shrugged and ran a finger around the edge of her wine glass. “I pretty much grew up on the waters around here. Went to a local college and majored in environmental science, but the shop was for sale when I graduated. The price was right and I decided to take a chance and be my own boss.”

“No regrets?”

She smiled and shook her head emphatically. “No regrets. Seasonal gigs can be tough, but the shop lets me spend time on the water, which I love. During the off season I teach some courses at the local community college.”

“I guess we’re both lucky to love what we do,” he said just as the waitress brought over their dinners.

The meal progressed pleasurably from then on with them sharing small talk about everything, from their desire to be close to the water to local politics and environmental policies.

Christopher found it easy to chat with Victoria, but there was also a comfort in being close to her that he had not ever experienced before. She was a stunningly beautiful woman. She had a wealth of shoulder-length toffee-colored hair, lovingly streaked with the kiss of the sun. Gorgeous silver-gray eyes were filled with intelligence and
framed by thick lashes. The wafer-thin veneer of energy around her was too weak to be full Hunter power, and yet it created a peaceful calm in his core. And although she could be hiding her true aura, that would take a great deal of skill. More skill than he thought he would possess, and just to be sure, he snuck a quick glance just to confirm his own aura was concealed.

Barely visible, he thought with a sigh of relief, and once again allowed her peaceful energy to touch him. It meshed with his almost as if their life forces were in sync. But little by little that synergy built a different kind of emotion.

She had the kind of body that appealed to him, tall, lean, and powerful, but with those curves that he wanted to explore. It was taking all his control not to reach out and touch her. Soothe his hand over the thick waves of her sun-streaked honey-colored hair. Maybe even run his thumb across those sexy lips that smiled easily or tilted upward with unrestrained humor.

He sensed she was unafraid to love fully or laugh heartily, novel traits that intrigued him. Growing up as a Shadow and next in line to be Añaru, he had found that virtually everyone around him had an ulterior motive and hid their true agendas. Everyone except for Ryan.

And now possibly Victoria. While he still knew little about her, he sensed goodness in her and hoped she was incapable of deceit, unlike his ex.

He held up a forkful of his last bit of cheesecake for her to taste and as she leaned toward him grinning, her silver-gray eyes sparkled with life. She closed her mobile lips over the tidbit and swallowed with gusto.

“Tasty,” she said, but as her gaze drifted to his lips it
strummed alive demanding passion in his gut. He was loath to end the night when the waitress came over with the check. After he had settled the bill, he said, “Would you like to go for a walk along the beach? Work off all these calories?”

She nodded. “I’d like that.”

Rafael scrunched his neck down until his face was hidden by the collar of his lightweight windbreaker. Between that and the darkness and distance, he remained undetected as Victoria and her date strolled side by side across the street to the boardwalk and then down onto the beach. As they moved toward the shore, they chased off some seagulls, who scattered back up onto the boardwalk.

Perfect for him.

Crossing the street, he expended a bit of the energy bestowed to him by the Quinchus to create a tiny whirlwind of air which trapped one of the smaller seagulls on the wooden planks of the boardwalk. He scooped the bird up in his hands, his touch soothing. Once again he called upon his Quinchu’s gifted energy and used it to absorb just a bit of the seagull’s essence. With that taste of its life force alive in him, he gently laid the bird down on the wood, tucking it against a baluster where it would be safe until it recovered from the smidgen of power he had drained.

Heading onto the sands, he ducked beneath the wooden structure for the Avon Pavilion which hid him from those on the boardwalk as well as the beachfront. Gathering the bird’s energy deep into his center, his core shrank and heated in anticipation of the change. When he had amplified the life force with his own, he blasted it out
along every inch of skin. Painful bumps erupted along his dermis as his skin shifted into feathers. Bones and muscles popped and shifted, condensed as he assumed the sleek shape of the seagull.

With an ear-piercing screech of pain, Rafael fully morphed. A few quick hops and a flap of his wings and he flew off into the winds he loved, quickly finding an updraft that propelled him forward.

Oh, how great it must be to be able to do this at will as his ancestors had once done, their power unlimited by the contagion from the humans. To glide and soar, unfettered by limits on energy, tasting the forces of the winds as they lifted you toward the blessed Mother Sun.

Rafael had to rein in his desire to savor the breeze and forced himself to rise up on an air current to seek out Victoria. He could not trust following her with just a stream of his energy. He had to see for himself what was happening because if she was in danger, he would do anything to protect her.

V
ictoria ambled beside Christopher along the hard-packed sand at the water’s edge, her insides in knots as attraction and common sense battled it out. There was no denying the strong pull of something elemental between them.

She narrowed her eyes to try to make out the faint hint of energy surrounding him. In the dark it was less visible than before, but nevertheless registered against her aura. She had to try to find out more about him and if he was aware of his abilities. “So you say you moved here permanently from the city? You can do that just with your programs?”

A casual shrug rippled across his broad shoulders. “The royalties for using the software are quite generous.”

“It must be nice to live a life of leisure and enjoy the nature around you.” She hit a watery patch of sand where her foot sank deep, making her wobble and bump up against him. The moment her skin met his, the buzz of his
power radiated throughout her, awakening desire along her sex, which quivered in reaction.

Totally not a human life force. Caught off guard, his energy was clearly discernible and much more powerful than what she had expected.

He stopped walking and shifted away, but kept a gentle hand on her arm to stabilize her. From that point of connection, warmth and energy continued to travel between the two of them, making it impossible to deny the Hunter blood in him.

“What are you?” she asked, looking into his eyes. It was clear as she met his gaze that he understood her question had nothing to do with his home or employment or anything else two normal people would discuss on a first date. That lack of confusion confirmed she was not off in her observations.

“What’s more important to you:
What
I am or
who
I am?” he replied, his grip tightening on her arm for a moment before he relaxed it and instead brushed his hand from wrist to elbow in a simple caress. But beneath the physical touch came one of energy. Strong and demanding, it created a glimmer of aqua wherever his fingers touched her and traveled straight to her Hunter center.

The motion sent a shiver of anticipation through her and created searing desire deep within. She imagined his touch along other parts of her body and how their energies could meld, bringing even greater satisfaction. Dangerous thoughts considering how little she knew about him. Plus there was the fact that it was painfully obvious that he was not only aware that he possessed such power, but also seemed to know that she did as well.

She should have been more worried since so far
she had not been able to determine if he was Hunter or Hybrid. And if he was a Hunter, she had no clue if he was one of the Dark Ones or a Light Hunter, which was equally troubling. But there was one sure thing on which she could rely: If he was a Shadow something bad would have happened long before now.