Insatiable by Elle Thorne

Author:Elle Thorne [Thorne, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbed Borders Press
Published: 2015-12-17T06:00:00+00:00

12

The drive was short, the little paths were dotted with golf courts and those who opted against them, deciding instead, to trek to the main house.

As they pulled up to the grand staircase that led to the front door, Reese understood why they’d been offered the cart. Ladies and gentlemen—shifters all—were dusting off from the dirt and pine needles that had attached themselves to hemlines.

Satin ball gowns and dress pants were disheveled as the housekeeper stood at the top of the staircase shaking her head in disbelief. Reese’s shifter hearing picked up her orders to the staff to assist the guests with eliminating any sign of the walk through the pine needles and soft dirt.

Rory gave him a haughty look, as if to ask if Reese was glad to have acquiesced and taken the cart. Reese didn’t acknowledge his brother’s reaction, watching the guests’ almost comical reaction to having a little dirt on their attire.

The sounds of music came from the open doors and windows.

A minuet? he wondered.

Yeah, and that limits the extent of my knowledge of music, he admitted, to our mother’s chagrin.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Mrs. Nielsen had tried to get him to appreciate “the finer things.”

Not Reese. Not Rory.

Poor Mom. All those years trying to turn us into gentlemen.

That wasn’t the kind of man Reese was. He liked working with his hands. Two weekends per month, he traveled to his little cabin in the hill country, not far from Fredericksburg. He maintained his own property and put up his own fencing. He’d earned his callouses. And in the early morning and late evening hours, he fished. He escaped the hustle of Houston, not eager to be the eligible bachelor. He played that role the other two weekends—but it was getting old, he admitted to that easily.

The scent of appetizers wafted his way, teasing Reese. The delectable aromas beckoned to him. He heard a growl and wasn’t sure if it was his wolf or his stomach.

He hopped off the golf cart and took the steps two at a time, turning back toward Rory. “Let’s get inside. I’m starving.”

The room was semi-dark, with an occasional candle in a sconce on the wall and a chandelier that captured and winked the reflecting flames. Not that the amount of light mattered to the shifters, what with their preternatural vision.

Ladies, resplendent in their colorful dresses, spanning hues in the rainbow giggled, the sound like tinkling bells. Hair in fancy updos or in ringlets. Faces hidden by three-quarter and half-masks. Lips glossed to perfection. They brought fans to their faces coquettishly. He wasn’t sure what seemed more appetizing at the moment. The aroma of the food or the vision of the ladies.

The guests were gathered in tight circles in the large room’s perimeter, laughing and chatting. The center of the room was occupied with couples dancing—bringing his mother’s disappointment to his mind. Again.

They’d better do a dance I can manage.

And then—

Time stopped.

The sound of the music vanished.

The odor of the food disappeared.

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