Tropical Tiger Spy (Shifting Sands Resort 1)

But what made Amber stop and stare, gape-mouthed, was the lifeguard. Curled around the guard tower was a dragon, as big and real as life, gleaming green and gold in the early sun. She might have guessed it was some crazy jeweled sculpture, but it swiveled a long mobile face towards her, and blinked curiously at her twice before returning its gaze to the ocean, where a few people were splashing on body boards.

A dragon!

She had heard rumors of mythical shifters, but hadn't expected to ever meet one, and now that she was faced with one, she couldn't do more than stare in shock. She felt foolish for feeling special for being a rare cat shifter.

After a long moment, she gathered up a towel and chair, and found a spot near the end of the beach, where the sand curved around towards the head rocks so she could surreptitiously watch the dragon while still facing the water.

She closed her eyes, drinking in the feeling of sunlight on her skin, and tried to relax to the mesmerizing sound of the waves and the wind in the jungle leaves.

She was unsurprised to open her eyes and find Tony, wearing only shorts, walking over the sand towards her, his own chair and towel tucked under his arm. The leap that her heart gave in her chest was both thrilling and unwelcome.

How many times was she going to have to remind herself that this was not a real relationship? The thrill of desire that went through her body at the sight of his muscled arms and strong legs was to be expected, but she needed to keep her emotions in check, and she was doing an utterly miserable job at that.

“You left,” Tony said accusingly, when he was standing right next to her. Clearly, she had violated some expectation of courtesy, in his mind.

Amber attempted to play it cool.

“I needed breakfast,” she said offhandedly. “I was starving! And you know, no predation, so I figured I'd better head to the dining hall.”

Tony set up the chair close enough to her that their armrests touched.

With anyone else, it would have been a ridiculous infringement of personal space, but she had a crazy hunger to keep him as close as possible, and she loved being able to brush her arm against his. He captured her hand in his own as he settled down beside her, and Amber felt irrationally like she was coming home.

The beach, which had been lovely and peaceful before he came, reached a new level of nirvana.

“Was breakfast good?” Tony asked, tipping his head back so he could smile across at her.

Amber licked her lips in memory. “Exquisite!” she said enthusiastically. “You missed a treat.”

“Alas,” Tony said, with mock tragedy.

“Chef should be in a restaurant in New York City that you can't get reservations at for a week,” Amber said, pretending she knew anything about high-end restaurants. “Scarlet has done an impressive job staffing this place.”

She felt Tony's hand stiffen under her fingers.

“You don't like her, do you,” she guessed, before she could stop herself. None of your business, stupid, she told herself.

“I don't trust her,” Tony said. “She's been ... obstructionist.”

Amber tipped down her sunglasses and looked at him. “You're not really here for vacation,” she said suspiciously.

Tony squirmed.

“I'm sorry,” Amber said swiftly, loosening the grip of her hand so he could pull free if he wanted. “You don't have to tell me. It can be just a vacation if you want.”

But Tony squeezed her back. “I'm part of a top secret government agency, and I'm here as part of an investigation.”

Amber blinked at him, but somehow wasn't as surprised as she thought she ought to be. “What are you investigating?” she asked.

Tony seemed to relax a little, the beach chair groaning a little as he settled. “Shifters have been going missing from this resort in particular for the past several years–sometimes they vanish on their way here, sometimes after they've checked out. One was mysteriously lost at sea during their stay, no body found. It's all been going on about as long as Scarlet has been here. There's some thought that another government entity was poaching potential agents, but I think something more sinister is happening; the missing people don't all fit the profile.”

“And you think Scarlet might have something to do with it?” The idea was chilling. More chilling, “And there's a government agency that knows about shifters? As in, the American government?”

“It's more like a ... an ... x-file agency,” Tony floundered. “That happens to know about shifters. We deal with all sorts of weird cases, but they aren't all shifters.”

Amber glanced down the beach at the dragon who was still attentively watching the swimmers “Is there a ... registry?”

Amber was sitting up in her chair now, all attention and no part relaxation. “Are they worried about ... I don't know, an uprising, or a shifter revolution? Should we worry about being on a list?” Bad movie plots flitted through her head.