by Cait Miller
Cameron still lay on the seat beside her though he had raised his head from her lap to look out the window. Chris had called his brother’s cell phone to let them know they had found very little at the lab. The guard had only confirmed that the professor had been experimenting on shapeshifters but he knew little about what he was doing. Just as the lab worker had said, their employer hadn’t shared what he intended to do with the information.
The professor had left nothing to chance, all the records had been cleared out and all of his prisoners were gone. He had even wiped the hard drives of all the computers, though Rianne still held out hope that they would still be able to retrieve some information from them. They knew Nick had been at the compound, the professor himself had told Cameron that, but, so far, they hadn’t found anything to tell them where he had gone from there. The guard knew nothing about him, only that he had possibly been part of the professor’s special project. A subject that only a very few people had access to. The news had caused an almost frightening rage from Cam and Jonathon but after venting their frustration with some very inventive mental curses, they had both lapsed into silence.
The car drew to a smooth halt and she jumped out, waiting for Cam to follow her before shutting the door. He bounded lightly up the steps and butted his head against Mary. Allowing the housekeeper to crouch and hug him before disappearing through the door. Jayne scowled at his swift departure and ignored Jonathon’s sympathetic look. She greeted the other woman, thanking her for sending the cavalry.
Mary pulled her into an affectionate embrace. “I’m just glad you two are all right, it took ten years off my life when I came home and found that note. Besides, Christopher tells me you two had almost rescued yourselves.”
“It’s true.” Jonathon grinned. “They were almost to the front door when we found them.”
“Well, almost isn’t definitely and I was really glad to see you guys. They showed up in the nick of time.” She glanced into the house and turned back to Mary and Jonathon. “Will you excuse me? There’s something I need to take care of.”
Mary smiled. “Go. But be gentle with him, love, the things that hurt us when we’re children often take the longest to heal.”
She found him in his enormous en-suite bathroom. He had clearly just finished his transformation and was lying curled up on the cold, tiled floor. His broad back was slicked with sweat and shudders racked his body. Jayne grabbed a bath towel and draped it over him, running soothing hands over his shoulders and back. A brief survey told her bruises from his beating were gone, and the wound at his shoulder faded to pink. “Oh, Cam,” she whispered.
“L-Leave me alone, Jayne! Ah d-dinnae want you to s-see me like th-this.” His teeth were chattering. Ignoring his protests, she stood and turned on the shower before kneeling and cupping his beard-stubbled jaw in her hands. “I love you, Cameron Murray, you have nothing you need to hide from me.” He opened his mouth to answer and she pressed a finger to his lips. “No, don’t say anything now. I didn’t tell you to force you into some kind of response. I just…wanted you to know.”
His lips firmed and he scowled and, for a moment, she thought he was going to argue anyway but he only closed his eyes and nodded his agreement. As the hot water filled the room with steam, she stripped off her clothes and urged him to his feet. He leaned on her heavily, hunched over like an old man.
“Come on now, let’s get you in the shower.”
“Ah’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
She nudged him under the spray. “Humor me, Cam.”
When the warm water hit his body, he groaned. Jayne wrapped her arms around him, his head on her shoulder and leaned back against the tiles. When the shudders had become the occasional tremor, she picked up the soap and began to wash him. Her hands glided over his shoulders and back and down to his buttocks. Lingering over the dimple she had admired before. He lifted his head to kiss her, his tongue sliding past her lips to duel with hers. He cupped her breasts, brushing her thumbs over the sensitive nipples. Separating their bodies enough for her to work the lather around to his chest and over his taut abdomen and down to his groin.
His cock grew in her hand, drawing a moan from him. His hands slid down her body and she lifted her eyes to his and shook her head. “Don’t. Just let me do this, let me take care of you. Please?” She wanted this to be about him, about showing him how much she loved him. Tension left his muscles and his powerful body relaxed. Jayne felt him surrender himself to her and that was a very powerful thing. Cam brought his hands to her waist and leaned his forehead against hers. “Ah don’t deserve you, Jayne.”
She smiled. “Maybe not. But I deserve you.”
She cupped his testicles in one slippery hand, he gasped and spread his legs a little and she rolled them, squeezing gently. With her other hand, she stroked his shaft from root to tip with a light pressure, repeating the action until he was making helpless little sounds of pleasure. She felt his grip tighten on her and knew he was close. His breath puffed against her lips, his hips jerking in time with her hand. He came in a rush with a harsh, guttural groan. Jayne felt his knees buckle for an instant before he caught himself and pulled her into his embrace.
Their bodies slithered against each other as the soap from Cam’s body spread to her own. He gathered up the bar of soap and cleansed her shoulders and buttocks, caressing her breasts and finally cupping her mound. He played with her clit and slid his fingers between her labia, teasing her until she was begging him to take her. Ignoring her plea, he pulled her under the shower spray and rinsed them both off. He switched off the water and they stepped out of the stall, drying each other with soft warm towels. When they were dry, he took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
Cameron pulled her onto the bed beside him, covering her body with his own. His head still reeled with the knowledge that Jayne loved him. Something that less than a week ago would have terrified him, now filled him with absolute happiness. He nuzzled her neck and nipped at her shoulder and she shivered and urged him onto his back so that she could sit astride him. He reached for the bedside table and the condoms she had left there yesterday. Her hair spilled around her shoulders and her green eyes shone with emotions that stole his breath. She took the silver packet from him and opened it, rolling the thin latex sheath over his erect shaft. Her body was wet and ready for him as she guided him inside, drawing gasps of pleasure from them both.
He reached for her hands and held tight as she rode him, her eyes closed in a delicious self-absorption as she concentrated on pleasuring herself. She rose up on her knees, the tight clasp of her body milking the length of his cock, and then lowered back down. Slowly, so slowly that he had to grit his teeth and force himself not to lift his hips and thrust back inside her. Again she repeated the motion, Cam groaned and his body shook. When she rotated her hips, his control snapped and he pulled her against him, rolling them so that she lay beneath him again. He nipped her earlobe and thrust against her until his cock was as far inside her as possible. “Enough.”
Jayne cried out and gave a breathless laugh that told him she had known exactly what she was doing and he silenced her with a kiss. She pulled back, meeting his eyes and whispered, “I love you, Cam.”
As before, in the bathroom, he felt the truth of her feelings. Words pressed at his throat, aching to be released but she kissed him again and they flew out of his head and there was only her. All at once, the urgency was gone, her legs hooked over his and they began to rock together. The room filled with the sounds of their lovemaking, the need for conversation gone as each lost themselves in the pleasure of the other. Climax spilled through him, out of him, and Jayne followed, her body clenching tightly around his.
Cameron rolled to his side, holding his mate in his arms and knew he never wanted to let her go again. Since his parent’s death, he had done everything in his power to avoid the Ceangal, believing it would only bring pain. Now he knew that it would have been far more painful to have never met his fìorcèil
e. He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. There was really only one thing left to do.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
Jayne’s brow furrowed in confusion but she was silent as she watched Cam make a brief stop in the bathroom before pulling on his robe and leaving the room. She sat up against the fat pillows on the bed, pulled the sheet up under her arms and waited as patiently as she was able. When he returned a few moments later, his face was pensive and hope and anxiety warred in his eyes. He carried a narrow, tarnished silver box in his hand. It was just a bit longer than a paperback book and was covered with intricate engraving. Cam sat on the edge of the bed in front of her and sat the box between them. She recognized the engraving on the lid as the same mermaid design from the stained glass windows over the stairs. He ran one long finger over the box and met her questioning gaze.
“I never thought this box would see the light of day, that I’d ever use it.” His mouth quirked in a small, self-mocking smile and Jayne felt the first stirring of nerves. “I believed I would never give in, that I was strong enough to resist an animalistic urge to mate. And perhaps that might have been true had it only been a Ceangal. But I didnae believe such a thing as a ‘proven bond’ existed.” His smile widened and Jayne found herself smiling back as he continued.
“Then, in the middle of the night, Jack Douglass arrived with Megan and I was forced to at least admit the possibility of a Dearbh Ceangal. But that didn’t fit in with my beliefs, so I shut myself away and told myself it didnae make any difference.” He pushed his hand through his tousled hair and swept her with his golden eyes. “Even at the wedding, when I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Whose thoughts I could hear and whose heart I could feel. Even when my skin, my whole body was alive with the magic of her presence, my head couldnae accept that she was my fìorcèile.” He skimmed his fingers down her cheek, Jayne’s heart pounded in her chest and she caught his hand in hers. “But my heart did. I love you, Jayne. I think I loved you from the moment I saw you standing in that garden in the moonlight. There’s no one else I could imagine spending the rest of my life with.”
Tears stung her eyes and she blinked them away and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, too.” He squeezed her tightly, hands stroking her naked back, she felt his big body trembling as he set her away from him.
“Will you join with me, Jayne? Will you complete the DearbhCeangal and let me be yours forever?”
“Yes.” She said it without hesitation but nerves still fluttered in her stomach and shook her body. Life as she knew it was about to take a fantastic turn and she didn’t know whether to be scared or excited by that. Then she saw the joy on Cam’s face and pushed her fears aside.
He reached for the silver box and opened the lid. Inside, nestled in red velvet was a SgianDubhs. The knife was clearly very old with its carved horn handle and faded leather sheath. It had no ornamentation other than a blood-red stone held to the top of the hilt with silver. Cameron lifted it from its box and removed it from the sheath, light glinting from the polished blade.
“This SgianDubhs has been in my father’s family for around two hundred years. It’s only used for the Ceangal.” He met her gaze. “Are you sure about this?”
In answer, she took the knife from him and pricked her index finger on the blade. Blood welled to the surface of the small cut and spilled slowly down her finger. She passed the knife back to Cam and he leaned forward and took her finger into the warmth of his mouth. Cleaning the blood from it with gentle swipes of his tongue. When he was done, the bleeding had slowed enough that only a small drop welled to the surface. She watched mesmerized as he cut his own finger and offered it to her. The blood had a slightly metallic taste and she was glad she only needed to take such a tiny amount. Jayne had thought that she might be disgusted by this but found instead that there was an odd sense of intimacy in the act. It wasn’t something she would be looking to repeat, but it was easier than she had expected it to be.
Cameron shrugged out of his robe and pulled her to her feet and into the middle of the floor. They stood facing each other, naked, and she began to feel a little awkward.
“How long does it—oh!” A strange tingling began in her hands and feet and swept her whole body, bringing with it a wave of pleasant warmth. Cam knelt and she followed him, feeling the sudden impulse to stretch. The tingling increased as she did so, closing her eyes and arching her back. When she opened her eyes again, she found everything sharper, clearer. Opposite her she saw Cameron had completely changed and when she stopped to take stock of her own body, realized that she had too. The world had opened up, her senses more acute than she would ever have imagined. Cameron’s familiar scent came first, soaked into the very fibers of the room, followed by the earthy scent of their recent lovemaking and the light aroma of the bath soap. Her ears twitched as she heard the faint sounds of Mary chatting to Jonathon in the kitchen, dishes clattering as she worked.
Jayne stepped forward cautiously, expecting to be clumsy on her new paws but instead found that the motion came to her instinctively. There was a mirror on the wardrobe door and she approached it eagerly. Reflected back at her was a lioness. Her coat was a little redder than normal, no doubt due to her own hair color, and she was probably a little bigger, but otherwise she was indistinguishable from the real thing. Wow.
Cam padded up behind her and nuzzled her face with his own. You are beautiful, my fìor cèile.
I can’t believe I am standing here like this! She lifted a paw experimentally and watched as her reflection followed. It’s amazing. She turned to face him, seeing the contentment in his eyes. I hope this doesn’t mean I’ve lost the grouch I fell in love with. I’ve become quite fond of him.
He snorted and she felt his amusement. I would love to say you had, my love, but I suspect he will still be around at times.
Good, I’d miss him. She nipped at his ear and bounded out the door and down the stairs, laughing at his startled oath. By the time she skidded onto the kitchen tiles, he had caught up with her. Mary clapped her hands delightedly and Jonathon grinned and threw open the conservatory door for them, letting them dash out into the bright winter afternoon. Cam raced for the pine trees and Jayne followed, savoring the cool, soft snow beneath her paws and the fresh breeze on her face.
Life sang in her veins and she felt she had never been so free. She thought again of her conversation with Megan a few short months ago. Of everything that had happened between then and now and realized… It wasn’t always enough to believe in magic, sometimes you had to go out and find it. And sometimes, if you were very lucky, it found you.
Epilogue
Abigail Westford perched nervously on a rock on top of the small hill and watched her little white car sitting in the middle of the road twenty feet away. Its headlights illuminated the stretch of single-track road directly in front of it but all around was darkness, broken only by the faint blue-white glow of patches of snow. There wasn’t a sign of human habitation for miles, it was perfect. It had taken her hours to drive the length of the route and back to find the best place to lie in wait. Now all she needed to do was be patient.
The freezing wind nipped at her and she shivered, pulled her black woolen hat down over the tops of her ears and shrank down into the thick down collar of her black jacket. Her breath puffed out in small white clouds in the cold night air and she tucked her hands under her arms to warm them. Her eyes strained against the darkness as she waited for any sign of them, while her brain went around and around. She was doing the right thing. She was. There was just no way she could have left anyone in that situation. Maybe she should have tried another e-mail, or a phone call. Or perhaps she could have shown up in person but she didn’t want to be held accountable for his actions. No, she had tried to stay out of it, to do it the easy way, but she had been fooled for too long while he covered his tracks. She had no choice but to take some kind of action herself.
There.
The lights of the
van swept up the hillside toward her, the incline slowing it down considerably. She gritted her teeth and waited. The other vehicle rounded the bend and disappeared from sight momentarily. When it came around the corner, its headlights swept her, momentarily blinding her, before shining on her beloved car. The driver leaned on his horn, swerving to avoid the little vehicle and she murmured a silent prayer. The van’s tires screeched as he fought to brake on the narrow, icy road, skidded and crashed into the ditch on the other side. It toppled half onto its side, the impact shattering one of the lights, and rocked to a halt.
Abby jumped to her feet, her whole body shaking with relief, and slipped and slid down the frozen embankment and across the road. She pulled the tranquilizer gun and handcuffs from the deep pockets of her jacket and clambered up to open the van door. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel and, for a sickening second, she was terrified that she might have killed him. A quick check revealed that he was merely unconscious.
“This is a good thing, it makes it much easier,” she reassured herself breathlessly and jumped back down, shoving the handcuffs back in her pocket. If she moved quickly and got this done before he came around, she wouldn’t need them. Even better, she could get away without being seen and without needing to worry about finding a way to free him. It was too secluded an area and far too cold to leave it to chance.
At first, when she opened the back doors, all she saw was darkness. Then, from one corner came a menacing growl. Her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she saw the cage tilted diagonally against one wall. Inside, pale eyes gleamed at her from a midnight-dark, feline face. He bared his teeth and snarled. Abby felt his rage, his confusion and fear and it made her want to weep.
“It’s all right, it’s okay,” she murmured, bringing the tranq gun up from her side. “Let’s get you out of there, Nick.”
