by Cait Miller
It was clear they all knew each other very well. Despite a slightly awkward first few minutes, Cameron had merged seamlessly with them. This was the most relaxed she had ever seen him. There was still a fine tension in him that she sensed had to do with her. He seemed to be hyper-aware of every move she made. There was an almost palpable connection between them and Jayne knew the others had picked up on it. She saw it in the glances exchanged between them.
When the conversation began to drift to a halt, Mary stood, yawning. “Well, boys and girls, I believe I’ll go to bed. It’s getting late.”
Rianne stood. “I’ll come with you, Mum.”
There were murmurs of agreement around the table and one by one the others stood until only she and Cameron were left. She listened to their voices as they retrieved their bags and headed for their rooms.
“And then there were two.” She turned to watch Cam, surprised when he didn’t show any signs of leaving. Instead, he stared back at her, his expression quizzical.
“What?”
“You puzzle me, Jayne. Why do you find it so easy to believe in the fantastic when most people would accept any other explanation?”
“Yep, it drives Megan crazy too.” She smiled and tried to answer his question. “I don’t know why, Cam, it’s just who I am, who I’ve always been, even as a child. Tell me about the monster under the bed and I’d want to know why the poor guy was hiding in there. I cried when I found out about the tooth fairy, and Santa Claus,” she shook her head, “when I found out about him I was devastated.”
“Who told you there were monsters under the bed?”
“Megan. I stole her coloring book and wouldn’t give it back.”
He shook his head and swung round in his seat ‘til their knees touched. His mouth quirked in a slight smile. She had yet to see a full-fledged grin from him and wondered if the presence of his friends would change that. “This isnae a romance novel, you know, there’s no guaranteed happy ending.”
“Okay, now you’re just trying to annoy me. I see you just fine, Cameron, and you look real enough to me. Besides, there’s been way more frustration than satisfaction so far. You keep winding me up and letting me go!” He scowled at her and, encouraged, she leaned forward and purred against his lips. “The hero of a romance novel would have made sure I had at least one orgasm before now.”
The longer she spent in his presence, the more twitchy she got. She didn’t know how he made her feel this way when no one else ever had. She got to her feet, intending to make her exit. He grabbed her wrist and stood facing her.
“Woman, you drive me crazy! You dinnae ken what you’re messin’ with.”
“Then tell me!” she hissed, their faces so close together she could see the darker gold striations in his eyes. There was anger and desire in his face and his body was shaking from the force of it. Abruptly he released her wrist. “All right! Goddammit! All right.” He walked away and leaned against the granite counter with his back to her. Jayne took a deep breath and attempted to bring her racing pulse back under control.
“You’ve guessed most of it anyway…” She saw him visibly brace himself. “I’m a shapeshifter.”
“I knew it! Jack too, right? And your friends? This is brilliant!”
Cameron turned, disbelief on his face. “Doesn’t this even shock you a wee bit?”
“Why would it? It’s not as if I didn’t know already. Can I see you change?”
“No!” He raked his hand through his hair. “It disnae work like that. Look, sit down, okay?” He went to the other end of the kitchen and rummaged in cupboards, producing a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He sat, poured them both a generous portion before beginning to speak again.
“Okay, here it is. I’m a feline shapeshifter, so were my parents and so are many of my friends. We’re not freaks or monsters. What we are is a separate race with a different culture and history. A history that as far as anyone can trace begins right here in Scotland. We live relatively normal lives. Except that puberty for us, along with everythin’ else, means our first transformation.”
“That has to suck.” Especially for him, since that’s when he’d lost his parents.
“Aye, it does. But we get plenty of time to recover from it since we don’t change again until around the age of thirty, give or take a few years. That’s when we have to deal with a new hell. It’s called the mating cycle.”
“And you’d be thirty…?”
“Three.”
“Ah.”
He raised his glass in a mocking toast and lifted it to his lips then put it down again with a grimace. “The matin’ cycle is a polite way of saying that the animal that lives inside me wants—no, demands—a mate. So I get an increased sex drive and in return I gradually lose my appetite and my ability to sleep. Until I give in to the demand.”
“And if you don’t give in?”
“Then, in theory, I could eventually starve to death. Though I dinnae think anyone has let it get that far, not for a long time anyway.”
She looked at the cold, untouched mug of chocolate he had left sitting on the table and the glass of whiskey he had yet to drink from. Remembered all the missed meals in the last few days. And worried. “So, why don’t you just find a woman?”
“Oh, that’s the best part. See not just any woman will do, only the ones who are genetically compatible. There’s always a very strong sexual pull between shifters and those women and, during the matin’ cycle, we just cannae get it up for anyone else. Aside from the obvious,” he gestured to the bulge of his erection under his jeans. “There are other signs that you are one of the ones who are compatible. That birthmark you have on the inside of your thigh, the one shaped like a cat’s paw is one.”
Her hand immediately went to cover the mark though it was under her jeans.
“And another is the fact that I can hear some of your thoughts and feelings, especially if we are close to each other.”
Jayne flushed crimson as she remembered all the lustful daydreams she had had about Cameron in the last couple of days. She took a large gulp of the whiskey. It burned all the way down, making her eyes water.
“Oh aye, I definitely caught some of those. You havnae made it easy to stay away from you, Jayne.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because if I take you, make you my mate…then we’d be stuck with each other for good. And if one of us decides we dinnae like the other,” he shrugged, “too bad.”
There was a bitterness in his voice that didn’t match his matter-of-fact words and Jayne wondered at its source. “You still haven’t told me how all this is related to you changing. I take it that it has something to do with this mating cycle?” And why do you hate the idea so much?
“It has everything to do with it. It’s just hard to explain to someone who cannae feel what I feel. I dinnae hate what I am, Jayne, although what I’ve said might make you think that. I just hate what I have to do to someone else so that I can be complete.” He spun his glass in slow circles on the table. “I could give all the sensible, reasonable explanations for what we are and what we do. Especially when it comes to the matin’ bond. Scent, pheromones, biological markers…but at the root of it all is magic.” The tips of his ears flushed red, signaling his embarrassment. His obvious discomfort made Jayne want to hug him but she sat where she was, worried that she might put him off.
“We all have our own theories about how it works and everyone is told a slightly different version as a child but it basically always comes down to the same thing. The magic in me recognizes the dormant magic in you and it needs it. But in order to bring it to the surface, it has to feed it with some of the energy that is usually used to control the cat. It happens through direct contact, we do have some control over when it happens but it takes concentration. Here.” He reached out his hand. “Give me your hand and close your eyes. Concentrate, tell me what you feel.”
Jayne felt his hand close over hers. “Warmth, your skin on mine, yo
ur heartbeat…mine…and something else. A tingling…very faint, like pins and needles.” He released her hand abruptly and she opened her eyes and saw his fingers trembling.
“We call it the Ceangal, it’s Gaelic for bond. It’s an instinct—like an automatic reflex—and the longer you put it off, the harder it gets to control. Once that link is made I have no say over where or when I change into the cat until the energy is equalized and the bond is completed. And if I don’t complete it, the changes come more often until, eventually, I just wouldn’t change back from the feline form.”
“Which would really suck.”
“Oh aye.”
He really was a very attractive man in a rough-around-the-edges sort of way. He had relaxed a bit, slouching in the chair so that his long legs stretched out under the table in a graceful sprawl. His golden eyes reflected the color of the whiskey in his glass and his tawny hair gleamed under the bright lights of the kitchen.
“Okay, I’m getting that it’s no picnic for you but you also said you didn’t like what you’d have to do to someone else, so spill.”
“At first, there’s not much effect on the female except that the mental link gets a little stronger. But once the couple completes the bond, she would become like he is and they would remain a mated couple for the rest of their lives.”
“Wait a minute. Megan is a shapeshifter!?” Jayne gaped at him, astonished that her friend had hidden something so major from her. “I’m going to kill her!”
“Jayne, try to focus for a minute. Did you no’ hear any of what Ah just said?” Cameron’s accent thickened.
“You’re damn right and I can’t believe she didn’t tell me!”
“Forget that for a minute. Ah said that they would be stuck with each other for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine bein’ tied to somebody you didnae like forever? Worse, someone you still wanted to fuck even though you hated them?”
Jayne shoved Megan’s duplicity aside for the moment and considered Cameron’s words. She watched him stand. Pace. Even back at the wedding—it seemed like a lifetime ago—she had been drawn to him. Despite his attitude and, she admitted, maybe even a little because of it. In this very short time, she had begun to see the man underneath. He was intriguing, annoying, complicated, fascinating…hurt. The more she saw of him the more she wanted him and, despite his prickly demeanor, she suspected her feelings were returned. She could think of no one else she’d rather be stuck with forever.
“I like you just fine, Cameron. More than like you, actually.”
He sighed and stared at her from across the room, worry and a guarded hope in his eyes. “Ah…I like you, too. But it’s not as easy as that for me, Jayne. I need to be sure, so do you.”
He walked out, leaving her sitting alone in the kitchen with a thousand thoughts flying around in her head.
Chapter Nine
Cameron lay back on his bed and wondered what the hell had just happened. He didn’t know whether to be glad or worried that Jayne now knew it all. Perhaps this would be all she’d finally need to keep her distance. Only he wasn’t sure that was what he wanted anymore. She was an amazing woman. Full of fire and courage and so beautiful that she took his breath away every time he looked at her.
He had been so sure he knew what his beliefs were regarding the DearbhCeangal but now they were all mixed up with his growing feelings for Jayne. It might be a long time before he was confident about it but he was willing to take the chance now. If there was the smallest possibility of a future with her…he wanted it. Somewhere in the last couple of days a tiny seed of hope had taken root in him, but it had taken Chris with his brutal honesty to make him see it.
Cam felt her presence in the hallway just as he had resigned himself to yet another sleepless night alone. He had to force himself not to rush to the door. He waited, not reading anything from her but a quiet resolution as she walked into the softly lit room. She stepped closer and his head spun with a dizzy relief as he took her in his arms. The energy of the mating bond washed over him and for the first time he savored it.
“I’ve decided.” She smiled slowly, mischief lighting her green eyes. “I hope you’re ready for this, Cameron.”
“Lass, Ah was ready the minute Ah saw you. In a church, no less. Ah was just waiting for the lightning to strike me down.”
He pulled the tie from her hair, letting it drop to the floor and swept his fingers though the long red strands. Jayne tilted her face up to his and he kissed her. A feather-soft pressure of his lips to hers that became nibbles, then demands, until she opened her mouth to him and let him devour her. Arousal flared to life, quick, hot, hard. The long-denied Ceangal soared in its wake, sending stronger waves of energy coursing over him, through him. Demanding, insistent, take her. They parted long enough for her to strip his sweater from him and run her hands over his chest. She drew back slightly, met his gaze and whispered, “Will I feel it?”
“Ah dinnae know.”
She nudged him back toward the bed, pushed him back onto it and pulled off her own sweater. “Let’s find out.” She took a wrapped condom from her pocket and tossed it to him. Cam caught it one-handed and smiled at her. “Should Ah be offended that you thought Ah would be this easy?” He shifted up until he lay fully on the soft mattress and watched as she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down and off along with her shoes. She laughed, clearly enjoying the role reversal. “I don’t think you’re easy, sweetheart, I was just being hopeful.”
When she joined him on the bed, she wore nothing but her sea foam-colored bra and panties. Her skin was creamy perfection but for the chocolate-brown birthmark high up on the inside of her thigh. One larger, vaguely oval, smudge orbited by four smaller ones. It marked her as his in a tangible way. He ran his fingers over it and shivered.
Take her.
His breath shuddered in his chest as she crawled up the length of his body, fiery hair loose and tousled around her face. Pale skin luminous in the soft light of the bedside lamp. A stunning contrast against the dark, masculine furnishings of the bedroom. She smiled wickedly at him and paused to unbutton his jeans. Cam lifted his hips and allowed her to pull them down and off. His erection sprang free and he thought he might explode from excitement alone. Then she touched him. Just a brush of her fingertips at first, up and down the length of his cock while she watched his face. When she closed her fist around his swollen flesh, he gasped.
Instead of stroking him, she began to gently squeeze and release him, moving her thumb in small circles over the sensitive head. He sucked in air through gritted teeth, his whole world suddenly centered on her face and the pressure of her hand on his cock. He was helpless to prevent his hips from rising from the bed in an attempt to thrust against her hand. She merely moved with him, bringing him to the brink of orgasm but denying him the release he knew was a mortifyingly few strokes away. His hard-on pulsed against her palm in time with his heartbeat.
“Ahh, fuck me,” he groaned.
Jayne chuckled. “I intend to.” She released him, raising her hand to her lips and licked the evidence of his arousal from her thumb. He reached for her, feeling his hands tremble and not caring. She moved with a liquid grace, her green eyes hot on his, her mouth pink and swollen from his kiss. Jayne gripped his hands in hers and straddled him so that his cock nestled between the cheeks of her ass, against the silk of her panties.
Take her.
Cameron moaned, finding himself suddenly short of breath. He could feel the familiar prickling in his fingertips that signaled the Ceangal and struggled for control. Take her. When she leaned forward, letting her hair fall down around their faces and breathed against his lips, “Do it now.” When he let go, let the magic spill out of him into her, registering the sharp pain in his hands as it did. Colors spilled around them, from her and from him. Red, blue, brown, pink, silver, gold. They swirled together and faded and then there was only Jayne.
His fìorcèile.
“It didn’t hurt,” she whispered.
>
He kissed her again, drawing her tongue into his mouth and letting her take his in turn. He felt her arousal, knew she wanted him with a passion rivaling his own. The thin silk of her panties tore easily in his hands, revealing a triangle of red pubic hair. He felt lightheaded, shaky but when she rocked her hips and he felt her wet heat against him, it didn’t seem to matter. He reached behind her and unfastened her bra, tossed it away and let her breasts spill free into his hands. When he stroked her nipples with his thumbs, her moans made his cock burn.
Cameron rolled, taking her with him so that he was nestled between her legs. He bent his head to her breasts, suckling at her until her hands fisted in his hair and pulled his mouth back to hers. His fingers found her wet and ready and he caressed her folds with his damp fingertips, spreading her moisture until he could push inside her with one finger, then two. Thrusting as he stroked and circled her clitoris, Jayne moaned and clung to him, kissing him as though she wanted to crawl inside him. She came in a rush, wetting his hand with her release. While she was still clenching with orgasm, he withdrew his fingers, put the condom on and entered her.
“Cameron!”
Her body gave way reluctantly to his. Slick, wet, warmth enveloped his cock, making him grit his teeth. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he felt her internal muscles tighten and release around him as she adjusted to his girth. Cam pressed his forehead against her, breath rasping in his throat as he tried to hold on. But when she rocked her hips against him, he knew he was lost. “Jayne, love. It’s been too long, Ah’m sorry…Ah can’t hold on.”
She tilted her head and nipped at his chin then took his hands in hers. “Don’t.”
They began to move together, hands and bodies locked together. His heart pounded and he felt the blood rushing in his ears. Driving forward as she arched back to meet him. He felt the approach of her climax in the tension of her body, heard it in the quickening of her breath. She dug her nails into his hands and held him tight to her as she cried out her release. The clench and spasm of her body tipped him over the edge and he followed her, spilling his seed.
