Shifting Dreams

by Elizabeth Hunter

  “…and I love you so much. I’m so glad I came to this crazy town. So relieved you’re okay. I was going a little nuts at first, but then you woke up the first time. Cussed me out because I started laughing. Do you remember that? I love you, Jena Crowe. I’m gonna make you so damn happy. And I love those boys. I think they like me, too. Low even stopped giving me the evil eye when I kiss you. You were unconscious, so you probably didn’t notice—”

  “Caleb,” she whispered.

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up. Kiss me and shut up.”

  He smiled as he wiped the tears from her cheeks, cupped her face, and gave her the sweetest kiss in the world. Her lips were cracked from the dry hospital air, his face was rough with stubble, but it was perfect.

  “Were you serious about marrying me?”

  “I was worried you’d forgotten about that part. You were pretty out of it. Hell yeah, I’m serious.”

  Ted cleared her throat. “Why don’t I take the boys out of here? Cathy called a few minutes ago from their hotel. I think they’re coming by to pick them up.”

  “No.” Jena glanced at them, not wanting them out of her sight. “They’re okay. I don’t mind.”

  “No, it’s a good idea,” Caleb said. “They’ve been here almost as much as I have. Frankly, Low’s starting to stink.”

  The boy mumbled, “I heard that, dumbass.”

  “Hey!” Jena barked. “Watch it, kid.”

  Caleb walked over and smacked him lightly on the back of the head. “Oh no, he must have been delirious, Jena. Didn’t know what he was saying, right Low?”

  The boy squirmed. “Right.” Then his eyes turned to Jena’s and all was forgiven. Wordlessly, she held out her arms and Low ran to them, a little boy again. “You’re okay. Really okay?”

  “I am,” she soothed. “I’m not going anywhere, buddy.”

  “Bear said you were going to be okay, but I was still scared.”

  “Never bet against Bear.”

  She felt him laugh a little. “Right. You’re really okay?” He pulled away from her.

  “I’m sore and tired, but I’m gonna be fine. We found out what happened to Grandma Alma and my family is safe. I’m going to be just fine.”

  “Good.” He glanced over his shoulder at Caleb. “He’s all right, you know?”

  “I like him.”

  Low rolled his eyes and blushed a little. “Yeah, I heard. I’m gonna go back to sleep.”

  “Take a shower first,” Caleb said.

  “Shut up—” He glanced at Jena. “I mean, thanks for the advice. And trust me, you’re one to talk. Wake up, Bear.”

  “Mama?” Bear slowly woke up and ambled over, spending a few sleepy moments curled in bed with Jena. “I knew you’d be okay.”

  Tom and Cathy arrived and slowly, the room filled with loud voices, excited whispers, and the general chaos that Jena had come to associate with the people she loved. Quiet rooms made her think of death and sickness. But this… She looked around with a smile.

  She was alive. Her body and—for the first time in years—her heart. Her children. Her parents. Caleb. All together, and it was just right.

  Somewhere in the middle of it, he pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. Caleb held her hand, leaned his head against hers, and watched Ted and Cathy, Tom and his grandsons, and even a few of the nurses, talk about Jena’s amazing recovery. She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

  “Hey, Jena?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Marry me.”

  “That’s not a question, Chief Not just-passing-through.”

  “Please?”

  She bit her lip to hold in the grin. “Why not?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Six months later…

  It was quiet. Caleb sat up in bed, wondering what was wrong. Why was it so quiet?

  The morning light lit up the room, turning the white blinds a pearly grey that glowed in the darkness. He glanced around at Jena’s bedroom. Their bedroom. Then down at the woman sleeping next to him.

  It was fine. It was just quiet and he’d woken up early. The old house creaked a little and Caleb heard a faint tapping on the roof. It was spring in the desert and they’d been getting sporadic showers that turned the desert to startling colors. The cactuses bloomed and yellow flowers sprinkled the trees.

  He lay back and listened to the rain, pulling Jena closer and fiddling with the simple wedding band on his left hand. Caleb closed his eyes and smiled.

  “Why are you awake?” she whispered.

  “Why are you?”

  “I wake up at the drop of a hat. You know that.”

  “No hats here. My wife has a tempestuous relationship with hats.”

  He felt her smile against his chest. His hand stroked up and down her back, teasing the strap of her nightgown.

  “Caleb,” she teased, “what are you doing?”

  “Taking advantage of my wife.”

  She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “You should let me sleep. You know I need it.”

  “I should.” His fingers slipped over her shoulder, down her back, then teased under her arm until he felt the sensitive underside of her breast. She shivered a little. “But I’m not going to. I’m shameless, remember?”

  Her quiet breath picked up. “You remind me daily.” She let out a satisfied sigh when he rolled her onto her back and began to kiss her neck. He slipped the nightgown farther down. The skin on her breasts was a perfect, creamy white, set off by dark pink nipples he tasted leisurely. His fingers continued to tease down her body as he licked and nipped until they were sharp, swollen peaks.

  “Mmm,” she moaned quietly.

  “Shhh,” he whispered. “Don’t want to wake anyone up.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” He grinned. She hated being quiet. It was torture for her. He kept teasing and tasting her breasts, careful to be gentle with the sensitive skin. He used soft lips to nibble at the underside before he continued down her torso, pausing to place soft kisses along the scars that still marked her belly. The memories no longer made his heart freeze. At least, not much. Sometimes, he would forget they were there when they made love. Then he would see them again and the sex would turn urgent. Fierce, as if to remind himself that she was alive. He was alive. She was his, and she was safe.

  Jena twisted her fingers in his hair, holding him close as he hovered over her. He slipped his hands to the small of her back and lifted, bringing the swell of her belly to his lips. There she was, snug and safe. Their own little miracle.

  “Sleep safe, baby bird,” Caleb whispered against Jena’s skin.

  He kissed down to the juncture of her thighs, teasing Jena with soft kisses and lazy licks, forcing her to bite the heel of her hand the first time she came. Caleb only grinned and kissed the inside of her thigh. “Quiet now.”

  “Get up here and you try, Chief.”

  He crawled up, rubbing his chest along hers and sliding in with one hard stroke. He let out a soft grunt when she rocked against him. “Like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  They made love quietly as the birds began to sing outside their window. It was sweet and hot and slow. It wasn’t often she woke hungry like this. Jena was working on starting the new restaurant for the resort and most nights were late. But last night had been her night off, and it was just her and him and the boys, watching a movie on the couch until Jena had drifted off to the sound of machine gun fire and explosions. Aaron and Low hadn’t even noticed.

  Speaking of explosions…

  She was doing that thing again. Her nails dug into his shoulders and her long legs were wrapped around his waist as she dug her heels in at just the right angle and—

  “Oh, fu—” She slapped her hand over his mouth, grinning wickedly as he tried to muffle his shout.

  Caleb was still panting when he rolled over and pulled her on top of him. “Holy… Woman, I’m not sure it’s legal for you to be so damn good at that.”

  “I’m still lea
rning what buttons to push, Chief.” She leaned down and nipped at his ear. “Imagine what it’ll be like with more practice.”

  More practice sounded like music to his ears. Caleb let her slide to his side and curl up. She was just at the point where lying on her stomach was starting to be uncomfortable with the baby. She was only about four months and seemed totally relaxed about the whole situation. He had to admit it was nice that one of them knew what they were doing. He spent most of his time trying not to feel like a giant idiot about the whole thing.

  “Do you really think it’s a girl?” she mumbled.

  “Bear does, and I don’t bet against Bear.”

  “We’ll have to decide on a name, then.”

  “Catherine?” He loved his mother-in-law. She’d probably get a kick out of the baby named after her.

  “No.”

  “Ted?”

  She snickered. “Definitely not.”

  “Well, we’ve got time.”

  “I was thinking… Charlotte.” He tilted her head up. There were tears at the corners of her eyes. “We could call her Charlie, if you want.”

  He’d told her, of course. And he’d seen his cousin a few more times in dreams, but never as an animal again. They would meet out in the desert for a hike or sit out on the front porch and drink a beer. The dreams didn’t come often, but Caleb felt like a little bit of his soul got patched up every time he woke from one.

  “I like Charlotte,” he whispered. “It’s a beautiful name.”

  “Okay.”

  He held her just a little closer. “Okay.”

  They lay quiet for a while longer and both dozed a little until a ruckus came from down the hall. It sounded like the boys had woken up.

  “Moooooom!”

  Jena groaned. “It’s Saturday. Why don’t children see the beauty of sleeping in?”

  “They’re mutants with immature brains. I think there’s scientific evidence that says so.”

  “Ugh.” She rolled to get out of bed. “Why don’t they ever call for you? I thought they liked you better than me now.”

  “Keep telling yourself that, Mom.”

  She glared at him and threw on a robe. There was more commotion from down the hall. What the heck were those kids doing?

  “Mom! I really think you need to come here!” It was Aaron yelling. But no Low. Caleb shot up in bed just as Jena left the bedroom. Was something wrong with Low? He swung his legs over and pulled on some sweatpants when he heard her shout.

  “Oh! Oh, buddy. It’s okay, just calm down.” There was more commotion and… flapping? Caleb’s eyes widened.

  “Mom, he tried to bite me!”

  Screech!

  “He tried to peck you, baby. He was just feeling threatened. Stay back.”

  Screech!

  Ho-ly shit. No way. Caleb scrambled down the hall. Aaron was peering into his brother’s room with wide eyes. Caleb leaned over Jena, who was standing with her arms out as a large barn owl flapped and hooted.

  “Low, stay calm. This is perfectly natural, but I know it’s a little scary at first.”

  Screech!

  “Oh wow.” Caleb tried not to stare. “Is there… uh, anything I can do to help?”

  “He just needs to calm down. The first shift is always a little scary. Bear, get out of here. Give him some privacy.”

  “This is so cool, Low!” Caleb tried to shove the excited mini-tornado back.

  “Now, I want you to concentrate on your own body,” Jena said soothingly. “Think about lying still in your bed when you first wake up. Can you do that?”

  Screech! The owl didn’t look like it was calming down at first. Then, the flapping stopped. The large white owl sat still in Low’s rumpled bed. He was staring at Jena intently. Then the familiar watery shimmer covered his body as it lengthened and stretched into the recognizable boy that Caleb had grown to love.

  He let out a relieved breath.

  Aaron was practically vibrating. “That. Was. So. Cool! I can’t wait to shift!”

  “Oh my gosh, Mom!” Low pulled a sheet over himself. “I’m naked!”

  Jena rolled her eyes. “Well, of course you’re naked. You just shifted. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.”

  “Caleb!” Low’s panicked eyes sought his. He pulled Jena back.

  “Honey, just—”

  “Oh for heaven’s sake,” she protested. “I’m his mother!”

  Low yelled, “You better not come back in here, Mom. Caleb?”

  “I got this, Jena.” He grinned and leaned down to kiss her. “I got this one, okay?”

  “You don’t shift into an animal.”

  “I know. But I have been a teenage boy in fear of his mother.”

  She let out a huff, but then Low called again, “Caleb?”

  He cocked his head at her and gave her his most convincing, crooked smile. “Cook him his favorite breakfast?”

  Jena shook her head and walked down the hall. “You three gang up on me now.”

  “But I’m your favorite, right?”

  “No way,” Aaron said as he chased after Jena, eager for food. “I’m her favorite.”

  She still hadn’t looked back.

  “But I’m the best kisser?”

  Low shouted from his room, “Caleb, gross!”

  He saw Jena’s shoulders shaking. Then she turned, a laugh frozen on her face, and took his breath away when she mouthed, I love you.

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Alex McCann pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead before he slipped his sunglasses back on and turned his attention back to the surveying team he’d hired. They had started at dawn, and the day was quickly growing unbearably hot. They’d have to take a break soon, or the men would pass out.

  “Alex!” His foreman, Marcus Quinn, called him over.

  “Be right there.” He opened his car and pulled a bottle of water from the small ice chest, quickly draining it before he pulled out another.

  Marcus was a good guy, one of the few members of the Quinn family who had pulled themselves up and made a real go of it in the outside world. He had a surveying company out of Barstow that did work all over the desert, and Alex was determined to employ as many people from the Springs as possible.

  The town was a dying relic that needed fresh air. It wasn’t going to get it without help. If he had to pull it into the modern world by determination alone, he would do it. Because the Springs was his home. No matter where he went in the world, this was the only home that mattered.

  That determination had driven him for over ten years. He’d sacrificed money, opportunity, friendships—and more—in order to secure the only safe place in the world for his family and his clan. It was his responsibility, and he did it without thought.

  But there had been sacrifices, some more painful than others.

  From the corner of his eye, he caught the dark green gleam of her Jeep as it turned the corner from Main Street to Spring, heading to the small clinic where she worked. The window was down and she caught him watching her. From across the field, she focused her cat eyes on him.

  Teodora Vasquez.

  His blood hummed, and he felt every hair on his body rise in awareness. Unconsciously, he lifted his nose to try to catch her scent. She had her sunglasses on and her mouth was pursed in a disapproving pout. He’d bitten those lips, kissed them with fierce abandon, felt soft flesh turn hard when she kissed him back. That morning, she sneered a little and dangled her fingers toward him in a saucy wave.

  They’d gone back and forth for years. Friends. Then lovers. Enemies. Lovers again. She was the dominating female presence in his life. The one woman that all others were compared to. He and Ted were currently trying to be friends again, according to her.

  But some sacrifices had been harder than others, and Alex McCann wasn’t leaving again.

  Friends.

  He gave her retreating vehicle a predatory smile.

  Right.


  A first look at the next book in the Elemental World series

  BLOOD AND SAND

  Summer 2013

  San Diego, 2013

  The lights of the club pulsed red and gold as he swirled the ice in the glass in front of him. The frozen water turned and twisted, spinning his glass into a small whirlpool that splashed over the edge of the cut crystal glass. His amnis caught the drops that fell to the table and quickly slid them back in the glass, leaving the polished wood unmarked. The music, the abysmally loud techno and pop that the patrons preferred, flowed around him as he sat in the black leather booth, watching.

  Baojia was always watching.

  Humans danced in a mass like one pulsing organism. Skin. Heat. Sweat. The mingled scents of blood and alcohol filled his nose, but he had already fed that night, a pretty young co-ed who would have no memory of his teeth in her neck. He would have indulged in more, but the girl had too much alcohol in her blood so he pushed her back toward her friends, who only giggled and winked at him.

  Idiotic humans. Baojia was painfully bored.

  The club in San Diego, Boca, was his sire’s pride and joy. It had been recently remodeled, thanks to Baojia’s presence. He had nothing better to do, after all. He was stuck in San Diego, having a time out like a rebellious toddler. The first year had been deserved; he had taken his exile with stoic grace. After all, it had been his failure that had led to the death of Ernesto’s kinsman and his negligence caused Ernesto’s favorite granddaughter grave injury. Beatrice De Novo had been under his protection, and he had failed in his mission.

  No, the first year had been well deserved.

  The second year as well. Perhaps.

  Baojia had been in San Diego for three years. Beatrice De Novo had recovered—rather admirably—and had settled with her mate in Los Angeles. She had probably forgotten about him. Forgotten the years he had watched over her while the damnable Italian had been jaunting around the world. It wasn’t Giovanni Vecchio who had protected the young human, it was Baojia. For four years, she had been his assignment. Her safety hadn’t been his only job, but it had been a priority. It still stung that she had no idea the lengths to which he had gone.