Secured Heart (Timberon Cat Book 1) by Yvette Hines

Chapter One
 
Strolling around the room one more time to check with his men and ensure everyone was in place and everything was secure before he left, Kal stepped to Dwayne, the man in charge for the evening.
“ Okay, Dwayne, everything appears to be under control. I’m heading out.” Normally, he wouldn’t have come at all with Dwayne leading the team for the night, but this project was a big one. The success of tonight’s event would mean more contracts of this caliber. Tyler, Bridge and Anderson law office was the largest firm in the city. They handled all the high-profile white-collar crimes around the state. Having Mayor Davy present was an extra bonus. The fact that he’d snagged this contract was proof that his company was succeeding in a major way. In the next few weeks, he would be hiring four more security people to add to his team of twelve.
“ Got it, boss man. Everything will be fine.” Dwayne, his good friend and fellow pride member, had left his job as athletics coordinator at a local recreation center to work with him. He was a six-three, dark-skinned black man who was as wide as he was tall.
Patting Dwayne on the shoulder, Kal confirmed, “I know you got it all under control. I don’t doubt it for a moment.” Glancing around, he whispered, “I just came here to show my face.”
“ And what a lovely mug it is.” Dwayne’s bantering tone matched Kal’s as he added, “A face only relatives and pride members could love.”
Chuckling, Kal nodded.
Kal and Dwayne’s families had lived in Albuquerque most of their lives, only five hours from the Amofeli sect in in Timberon. Dwayne’s family members were unattached shifters. For years Kal’s elders had attempted to convince the family to join with Timberon Amofeli pride, but Dwayne’s father had declined. When he and Dwayne went to college his best friend joined the pride.
“ Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at the offi--”
“ Sorry I’m late, everyone.” Burt Tyler, the lead partner who had started the law firm twenty-seven years ago with his father, came in with a petite black woman.
Presently, she was about five-eight in her three-inch heels and her skin was a soft brown with red undertones, like Georgia clay. She was perfection, every feature designed by the Creator to attract and hold a gaze, in its flawless symmetry. Her long ebony hair cascaded down around her shoulders in layers, tempting a man to bury his hands in it.
Kal’s hands itched to do just that as the desire he once believed dormant flared up as hot and scalding as ever. A joyously sweet and erotically intoxicating combination of osmanthus and vanilla rum reached him from across the room.
He watched her smile as she worked the room beside the stout lawyer who was barely an inch taller than her. Her short black dress haltered around her neck, conservatively revealing the swell of her breasts. The garment hugged her slim form and ended mid-thigh, giving the illusion that her toned legs went on and on. Lana Greisen.
Fuck. What the hell was she doing here? With him? Kal took a step along the outside perimeter hall.
“ Kal?”
He heard his name but disregarded it…kept moving. The hairs on the nape of his neck rose and his scalp tingled seeing another man touch her. He had to remind himself that this was not the time or place. His business was at stake if he did something foolish like shift and take out the town’s leading lawyer. It was hard to tamp down the urge to swipe the older man’s head off with his claws. If he used his concealment trait, it would be impossible for them to pin it on him.
“ Man, this may be a good time for you to head out.” Dwayne, who knew what Lana had once meant to him, must have clearly sensed his intent.
Kal took another step.
His friend grabbed his arm keeping him from following the couple. Raising an eyebrow, Dwayne spoke firmly. “As you planned.”
Glancing first at his arm and then up at his friend, Kal stifled the hiss rising in his