by Zoe Chant
“Like this,” she whispered.
He pushed into her and she let out a shaking gasp. Arlo was gentle, careful, as though he was worried he might break her, and the expression on his face was unguarded wonder.
She rolled her hips, drawing him deeper and he moaned. Every movement, every sound, made her want him more.
He slid one hand down to her ass and used his grip to anchor her as he thrust in, making her gasp and moan as pleasure swamped her conscious thoughts. He went deeper and deeper, hitting her g-spot with each thrust.
“Oh God,” Arlo gasped, and she couldn’t stop her body from responding.
Her whole body clenched, ecstasy shuddering through her again and again. Arlo moaned and rolled on top of her. When he thrust again he went even deeper, filling her until she felt like she would explode. Her orgasm was still rolling through her. She cried out as he thrust into her again. Slowly. In control.
Her eyes fluttered open. Arlo gazed down at her, his expression enough to make her wrap her legs more tightly around him and pull him into her again. He groaned, meeting her intensity with her own need, and held her close against himself as he came.
He didn’t let her go afterwards, and Jacqueline didn’t want him to. She kept her arms around him, feeling the thud of his heartbeat, the ragged pants as he caught his breath. As they both did, their bodies still completely entwined.
“Are you all right?” Arlo asked.
Jacqueline was still panting. She laughed, breathless. “Am I—? Oh, God, Arlo. That was incredible.” She pressed her cheek against him. “Am I all right. Really.”
He rolled off her, still holding her so they ended up tangled together side by side. “I wanted to be sure. I don’t trust myself to pick things up, all the time.”
His eyes were dancing. He was teasing her. Jacqueline tsk’ed.
“Well you don’t need to worry about that.” She snuggled close against him. “That was everything I’ve been wanting for a long, long time.”
He was stroking her back; at her words, he paused. “It’s all I’ve wanted,” he murmured.
The first thing Jacqueline noticed as she woke up was warmth. Specifically, the solid, reassuring warmth of Arlo’s body against her. It was so exactly what she wanted that for a moment she was sure she was in a dream.
She opened her eyes.
Not a dream, she thought, and it was the happiest thought she’d had in a long time.
Arlo was stretched out on his back and she was tucked against him, her head on his shoulder and one arm curled up on his chest. Her fingers twitched before the conscious thought that she wanted to stroke his golden skin even reached her brain, and she forced them to be still. Arlo was still asleep and she wanted to savor this moment as long as possible, before…
Before he wakes up and this perfect moment falls to pieces.
She swallowed a sigh. When she’d imagined her first post-divorce hookup, it sure as hell hadn’t been with a ruggedly handsome sailor who could turn into a wolf. She’d envisaged nights on the town, ridiculous cocktails and short glitzy dresses, not a long evening sinking into his eyes over the best meal she’d ever eaten and a slow, sensuous seduction while the sea rocked under them.
Jacqueline shivered as she remembered the way he’d touched her. Tenderly, reverently, as though he was afraid she’d dissolve into mist.
A lump formed in her throat. No, it wasn’t what she’d imagined at all. And now…
Arlo’s breathing changed. His eyelids fluttered and Jacqueline blinked, driving back the sudden darkness at the edge of her mind.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
Arlo’s eyes opened. Jacqueline shivered again as he looked at her, the touch of his gaze like slipping into a warm bath.
“You’re still here,” he murmured, sliding one hand along her waist. Jacqueline laughed.
“What was I going to do, swim away?”
“I mean…” Arlo’s eyebrows drew together. “You’re here. You’re real. The last two days weren’t a dream.”
Jacqueline’s stomach lurched. Two days? Was that all? And she was already—
Arlo pushed himself up on his elbows. “Jacqueline? Are you all right?”
Damn it. Whatever she was feeling, and she wasn’t even sure herself what that was, must have shown on her face. She reached for his shoulder and pulled herself to sit up beside him.
How could she explain how quickly she was falling for him, without sounding like a complete psycho?
“It’s nothing. Just—”
Arlo suddenly doubled over. He clutched at his head with a strangled shout of pain.
“What’s wrong?” Jacqueline wrapped one arm around his shoulder to support him. His muscles were so tense it was like holding onto a knotted tree trunk. “Arlo, what is it?”
“Head,” he managed to grunt. “Voices.”
“The kids?” Terror knotted in Jacqueline’s stomach.
Arlo nodded and winced in pain again.
“We have to get to them.” Jacqueline scrambled out of bed and grabbed her clothes from the floor. She pulled them on quickly.
Arlo was following suit, his face taut with pain. He swayed sideways, almost hitting his head on the ladder, and Jacqueline pulled him back to his feet. She wrapped both arms around his waist and held him steady, staring into his eyes.
He let his forehead rest against hers. This close she could tell he was actually trembling.
“Come on,” she whispered, her breath shaking. “Let’s go get them.”
“I can’t—” Arlo grimaced, squeezing his eyes tight. “It hurts too much. I can hardly see.”
“I’ll do the seeing for both of us. You make the boat move, and I’ll tell you where to go.” Jacqueline put her hands either side of his head. “Trust me. We can do this together.”
“I trust you.” The words came out on a breath so heavy Jacqueline was only half-sure what he’d said. She pressed her lips against his and felt him shiver.
“Then let’s go.”
The sun was still low, but Arlo swore under his breath as he climbed up on deck. He made his way to the skipper’s seat with one arm up over his eyes. Jacqueline followed on his heels although it was clear he knew where he was going by memory alone.
Arlo collapsed on the seat. “Anchor,” he growled, and started to stand up again. Jacqueline put a hand on his chest.
“I’ll handle it,” she said.
He grasped her hand and held it tight for a moment before letting go. “Thank you,” he said, his voice ragged. “It’s never been this bad before.”
Their eyes met, and a jagged moment of shared realization thundered between them. Jacqueline gulped. If it’s never been this bad before—what’s happened?
Arlo unfurled the sails by feel and they were off the moment the anchor was out of the water. With Jacqueline directing him, Arlo sailed for the tiny beach at the base of the cliff with the lighthouse on top of it.
“I’ve got Harrison,” he groaned, motioning to his temple. “Here. They’ll meet us on the beach.”
They didn’t get that far.
Jacqueline had just dropped anchor. Arlo was hauling on the dinghy’s tow rope to bring it close enough to board. An eagle’s screech cut through the air and Jacqueline whipped her head up to see something that was definitely not an eagle leap off the top of the cliff.
“Is that a…” she began, grabbing Arlo’s arm.
He didn’t need to look up. “Harrison,” he said. “And Tally. It’s her voice.”
“Is she hurt?” Jacqueline’s throat went tight.
“She’s—”
The not-an-eagle unfurled its wings mid-leap. Jacqueline gasped. It was a—she racked her memory for the word. Mandrake? Hippogriff?
Griffin, she thought as it—he—Harrison landed on the deck. The ship rocked under his weight, but Arlo and Jacqueline were already racing towards him.
“Do you have her?”
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Is she—”
Harrison was holding Tally in his fore claws. She was in her seal shape, wriggling and making a howling, whining noise that made Jacqueline’s heart rate rocket.
Jacqueline reached forward and swept her up at the same time Arlo did. They held her sandwiched between them, their arms tangled around her and each other.
“What is it, baby?” Jacqueline asked desperately. “What’s wrong?” She looked up at Arlo, whose expression was stricken. “Can you talk to hear? Hear her?”
“She…” Arlo’s face relaxed and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. Nestled between them, Tally fell silent. “She’s fine. She was lonely, and scared. But she’s all right now.”
Tally snuffled against Jacqueline’s neck. A second later, she turned back into a baby girl, her pale eyes damp with tears.
“Is everything okay now, honey?” Jacqueline ducked her head to look into Tally’s face.
“Es,” whispered Tally, wrapping her arms around Jacqueline’s neck.
Jacqueline caught Arlo’s eyes on her and smile. “Is your head feeling better?”
Arlo touched his temple gingerly. “Better. Still tender.”
“I’m glad.” She looked back down at Tally. “So much fuss just because you were lonely? Weren’t your brother and sister here with you?”
Jacqueline looked towards shore. They were close enough that she could make out three figures on the beach: Kenna, Dylan and Lainie.
“Can you tell if they’re all right? If Tally’s this upset over something—”
Arlo cocked his head. “They’re mostly worried about her. I’m telling them she’s fine.”
There was a whoosh of air as Harrison shifted. He marched over to them, frowning.
“What’s wrong with your head, Arlo?”
“You didn’t feel it?” Arlo looked at Harrison with an expression of surprise that turned into a wince as he swung his head around. “She was so loud, I could hardly hear myself think. And she was so lonely it… hurt. A lot.”
“She was loud, sure. But you’re the only one with a migraine.” Harrison frowned. “Is everything all right, bud?”
Arlo rubbed his forehead. He glanced at Jacqueline, then away, then back at her, as though he couldn’t keep his eyes away. “Better than all right,” he said, his voice soft.
Warmth flooded through Jacqueline, turning into a smile as Tally chortled against her neck. Jacqueline squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.
“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious. We’d better get back to shore and let the others know.” Harrison rolled his shoulders back. “I could fly you over, or—”
“We’ll row in,” Arlo interrupted, then paused to check with Jacqueline.
She nodded happily. After the scare with Tally, she wasn’t sure she could manage something as exciting as flying on a griffin’s back—and a short trip in the rowboat might be the last chance she had to salvage a scrap of time with Arlo, before they got back into the bustle of real life.
Tally giggled and Arlo rocked back slightly, blinking.
“She wants to fly,” he explained to Jacqueline as Tally shifted back into her seal form and started wriggling. “Harrison, you mind?”
“So long as she doesn’t start yelling again,” Harrison said gallantly, and tucked Tally under one arm. “Good practice, anyway, right?”
He shifted and leaped into the air in one smooth movement. Jacqueline leaned closer to Arlo.
“I’m assuming that noise she’s making is happy?”
“Very.” Arlo gazed into her eyes and for a moment, Jacqueline forgot what she’d been about to say. “Jacqueline…”
“Hmm?”
Somehow, their hands found each other’s. Jacqueline tangled her fingers around his.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about and this might be the only chance we have,” he said. “I should have said it earlier, but last night—and now with Tally—I’ve let every chance slip me by. I won’t let that happen again.”
Jacqueline raised her eyebrows. “Sounds serious,” she said as her heart started beating so hard she was worried Arlo might be able to hear it.
Arlo sighed. “I wanted to tell you this on the Hometide. At my workshop. Every minute since I met you. But I…” He shook his head. “I know you’ve been hurt before.”
“I… yes,” Jacqueline said slowly. “You could say that.”
“You were betrayed by the man who pledged to care for you for the rest of both your lives.”
Only because I betrayed him first. Because I couldn’t give him the one thing he wanted most from our marriage.
She pushed the treacherous thought away but even with it gone, Jacqueline’s chest tightened around her hammering heart. Another joke rose to her lips and she bit it back.
“I don’t regret anything that happened last night,” she said, instead of the jokey brush-off that had bubbled up at first. Her voice wobbled.
Arlo’s eyes sharpened with concern. “That’s not—I don’t, either,” he said, his voice gravelly. His hands tightened around hers. “I could never regret any time spent with you.”
Any time? Jacqueline’s treacherous mind took the words and spun them out into whole novels. Any time—meaning more time than just now? More time than just this weekend? Does he want to see me again? Does he want—
Jacqueline put a lid on her thoughts and pushed it down tight.
Stop over thinking it. Just listen to him.
Arlo took a deep breath. “Last night, you asked me about mates. I didn’t answer you.”
Jacqueline could see how much effort it was taking him to get the words out, and her heart was so full of sympathy that it took her another moment to realize what he was saying.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I remember.”
The lid was coming off her pot of ridiculous thoughts and emotions. She held onto it, just for now, just in case this wasn’t going where all those stupid thoughts thought it was going.
“You don’t have to say anything now,” Arlo said urgently. “I know it’s different for humans. Don’t feel like you need to answer, or say you feel the same, or—”
“It would help if I knew what it is I’m meant to be having these feelings about,” Jacqueline said gently.
“Right.” Arlo bowed his head. When he looked up, his expression was more vulnerable than Jacqueline had ever seen before. “Every shifter has a soulmate. One person, somewhere in the world, who’s the other half of their heart. Shifters know who their mate is from the moment they first set eyes on them. And I knew from the moment I first set eyes on you. Every second since then has made me more sure. You’re my mate.”
Jacqueline swallowed. Suddenly, her eyes were swimming, and the only words she could find were a choked: “You’re sure?”
“I am. God, Jacqueline, I am. But you don’t have to be. I know it’s too sudden, you have your own things going on.” She saw Arlo grimace through the shimmer of tears. “I should have told you earlier. This is the wrong time, the wrong place, I—”
“Will you shut up for one second!” Jacqueline pulled her hands away from his and threw them around his shoulders. He was warm and solid and she buried her face in his chest, her lungs heaving. “These are happy tears.”
“Oh.” Arlo dropped his head to rest on hers and wrapped his arms around her.
Jacqueline smiled. “Is that a good oh?”
Arlo let out a sigh that seemed to shake his bones. “God, yes.”
“Good.” Jacqueline sniffled. “And don’t worry. I always cry when I’m too happy and this is… so much, all at once.”
“Too much?” Arlo stiffened. “I meant what I said. Anything you need, time, space, even if—” He took a sharp breath. “If you don’t feel the same way…”
If I don’t feel like what? Like I knew I’d met my soulmate the moment he pulled me out of the sea?
Jacqueline took a slow breath, her face still buried in Arlo’s
shirt. He smelled like salt and sweat, and she never wanted to breathe in anything else ever again.
“When I first saw you,” she said, “don’t laugh—I didn’t see you at all. I was out of my mind with fear. I thought I’d gone. I’d just seen kids turn into animals and I jumped in the water, almost got myself killed, trying to save something I was sure shouldn’t even exist.”
“Why would I laugh at that?”
“Because as soon as you grabbed me, I wasn’t scared anymore.” She hadn’t even thought about it at the time. But it was true. As soon as she’d felt Arlo’s touch, some deep part of her had known she was safe. “I wasn’t scared of drowning. I wasn’t scared I’d gone mad and started seeing things. I wasn’t even scared to harangue you until you let me go with you!”
“I didn’t need much haranguing,” Arlo pointed out.
“I didn’t think there could be any reason you’d let me come with you. And I desperately wanted to. I wanted it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.” She swallowed. “That scared me. Wanting something that much.”
Wanting something, and knowing that wanting something with that much of my being is a surefire way to make sure the universe never gives it to me.
“And now?”
Jacqueline stood on her tiptoes until she could kiss him. “Now I know why I want to stick around so badly.”
We’re meant to be together. Soulmates.
He’s been here all this time. Waiting for me.
She blinked. Her eyelashes were still wet, and she tried to draw back enough to wipe her eyes, but Arlo held her close.
“If you’re staying, then I’m not letting go of you just yet.”
Jacqueline dropped down off her tiptoes and laughed into his shirt. “Fine. Have it your way.”
She let herself melt against him, every curve of her body contouring to his muscular form. Arlo groaned deep in his throat.
“What happens next?” Jacqueline asked. “I mean, I can feel what you want to happen next…”
Arlo swore under his breath and maneuvered his lower half away from her. Jacqueline laughed and pressed herself up close to him again.
