Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) by Nancy Straight Read Free Book Online Page B

constricting arms loosened fractionally, enough so that I was still held tight, but his eyes challenged me.  “It’s a bad idea to allow yourself to be in any type of danger before the Council meeting tomorrow.”
    “I won’t be in danger, Drake.  It’s Cameron.  I just need to see him.”
    “If you’re wrong and there is danger, I’ll transform in front of a lobby full of people.”  His eyes were stern as he searched mine for any doubt.  “All the political influence in the world won’t keep an event like that off of You-Tube and every news station on the planet.  Make no mistake, if I think there is even a sliver of chance that you’re in danger – I’m changing.  Do you still want to go downstairs?”
    “There won’t be any danger.  I promise.”
    Drake let me go, took a step away from the door and held it open for me to pass.  I was so excited my feet barely touched the floor of the hallway.  I was standing in front of the elevator when it opened; I pressed the “L” before Drake was even in the elevator.  Would Cameron recognize me?  Would he want Drake and me to come back to South Dakota with him?  Did he have a girl he missed?  Would he like me?  Would he want to stay with us? 
    Drake’s steady voice echoed in my head, “ Calm down, Cami .”  I looked up into his beautiful face as his smile stared back at me.  As the elevator touched the ground floor and dinged, Drake pressed the “Door Close” button.  His expression was serious, “I know you want this to go well.  I do, too.  If I sense something I don’t like, it’ll be all hooves and horsehide, so don’t do anything to provoke him in the open.”
    No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to keep the smirk off my face.  “Hooves and horsehide?  Interesting threat.  It’s going to be fine, I promise.”  Drake removed his finger from the button as the doors swung open wide.
    The lobby was full of people, much more congested than when we had arrived.  The hotel bar was full of men in striped shirts, some sort of a sports team.  Several people waited in line at the hotel’s registration desk.  My eyes darted about the room, too excited to focus in one location for longer than a fraction of a second.  “ I’m here, ” my thoughts offered.
    Two men stood with their backs to the elevator, just ten feet away.  One stood up straight, and his posture braced like he’d been hit with a board.  He slowly angled his neck to look directly at us.  His eyes were the same brown as mine; his hair was short and a little darker than mine.  When he turned around, I was able to get a full look at him – it was Cameron.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 5
    (Camille Nash – Lost City Resort, South Africa)
     
    Drake’s hand took mine as we walked the few steps toward my brother.  My brother.  My twin brother.  The other half of me.  Drake gripped my hand harder, maybe in an effort to keep my feet on the ground, maybe as a silent reminder that he was cautiously optimistic about this reunion.
    When we were just feet away, I dropped Drake’s hand and lifted my arms to take Cameron in an embrace.  Cameron took a step away from me and slid both his arms behind his back.  My mind didn’t need time to process what had just happened – he had rejected me.  Embarrassed, I brought my hands back to my sides and made no attempt to move closer.  This was all new to him, too.
    My eyes remained fixed on Cameron.  He looked like me, and Mom, and even a little like Will.  He was taller than me, by at least a couple inches.  His face was clean shaven, or maybe it was naturally smooth?  He looked like he’d spent days in the sun, not at all the pasty-white like the others I’d met in the dead of South Dakota’s winter.  Was his complexion naturally darker than mine?  Will said he was at Zandra’s.  Was he out in the Florida sun a lot at Zandra's?  She had spent far less time with him, just a couple weeks compared to the