A Shift in the Water

by Eddy, Patricia D.

  “Where do you live?” Jen asked, her quiet voice resigned with only a hint of disapproval. “How did you meet?”

  Cade tightened his fingers around Mara’s hand. He hadn’t thought this through. Of course Mara’s best friend would have questions. Questions he couldn’t answer. His stomach clenched. Die, dog! He heard Katerina’s voice in his head and shuddered.

  Cool fingers encircled his wrist and traced patterns on the back of his hand, anchoring him in the here and now. Katerina wasn’t here. She didn’t know about Mara’s role in saving his life. He was safe, here with his mate. She looked up at him now, a shy smile on her lips. “We met the last time I was on Orcas. He needed a place to stay—in Seattle. I offered.”

  “So you’ve moved in? Isn’t this way too fast, Mara? What? You were on Orcas three weeks ago? Two?”

  “You’ve known me a long time, sweetie. You know my history. Roger. Tim. Phil. Hell, you nursed me through all those breakups—even when I was the one to initiate them. I’ve never found someone who felt like my other half. It’s never worked. Well, it’s working now. Cade hasn’t moved in. He’s staying over. Long-term. We’re going to give this a chance and see where it goes. I told you I couldn’t explain everything.” Mara’s voice dropped. “Be happy, okay? I’m not likely to die in the next few months and I’ve found someone I care for who cares about me.”

  Jen fixed them both with a hard stare. Mara shifted closer to Cade and he relished the contact. He wanted to drag her back to her bedroom and make love to her until they were both too spent to move. Shit. He wasn’t going to be able to keep his hands off of her much longer. The mating call sang through his blood, while his cock shouted its desires directly at his brain.

  “Okay,” Jen said.

  “Okay?”

  “Yes. You look happy. You look like you’re healthy. I love you, Mar. You’re hiding things from me, I can tell. But I’m so happy you’re not dying that I don’t care.”

  Mara rose and wrapped her best friend in her arms. Jen’s tears dripped onto Mara’s shoulder. Cade looked away, giving them their private moment. He wondered if he should go hide in the bedroom for a while.

  When Jen sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, Mara released her. “When are you going to tell Adam and Lil?”

  “Aunt Lil already knows. She met Cade yesterday. It was her friend—Eleanor—who helped me understand how this sudden recovery happened. Aunt Lil gave him the third degree. You know her. If there was something to worry about, she never would have let him stay.”

  Cade chuffed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He really needed to trim it. And shave. “I think she did more than give me the third degree. She practically threatened my life if I ever hurt you.”

  A smile tugged at Mara’s lips. “She liked you.”

  Pride and relief washed over Cade. Mara’s scent reached him from several feet away. Even across the room, perched on the arm of Jen’s chair, he could smell her.

  Mara looked down at Jen. “I don’t want to deal with Adam right now. I go back to the doctor tomorrow. Once I have another good blood test, then I’ll tell him. If I told him now, he’d demand answers I don’t have yet. Plus, he and Lisa are up at Snoqualmie for the weekend. They get so little time alone since her parents won’t take the kids too often. Keep my—our secret for a little longer?”

  “For a while. But you’d better tell him soon. I’m going to the salon with Lisa next Friday. Tell him by then?” Jen took Mara’s hand and squeezed.

  “I will.”

  “What do you do, Cade?” Jen asked.

  Cade cleared his throat and looked at Mara for help. She trusted Jen, but he didn’t know this woman at all. Mara nodded encouragingly. “I had a woodworking shop up in Bellingham. Toys, art, furniture. I’d like to do that again.” His hands itched to work. He missed the feel of the sawdust between his fingers, the scent of it in his hair.

  Muffled voices permeated his thoughts. He shook his head. Jen was asking him something.

  “So are you?”

  “What?” He was dazed, lost in what had been taken from him. He’d missed the first part of her question.

  “Are you the guy who did the installation at the Gates Foundation? Because he died. At least that’s what the press has been saying.” Jen narrowed her eyes. “His photo was all over the papers for a week after he died. Bill Gates went to his funeral. You look kinda like him. Skinnier. Scruffier. But . . .”

  Panic gripped him. She’d put his name, face, and profession together; would she tell anyone?

  Mara joined him on the couch, held up her hand to stop Jen from saying anything else, and cupped his cheek. “Look at me,” she whispered.

  He turned his gaze to his mate’s reassuring emerald eyes.

  “She won’t tell. Trust her. Trust me.”

  Jen was frowning. She hadn’t made up her mind about him yet. Either he took a chance and trusted that Mara knew her best friend well enough or he’d have to run away. He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t leave Mara.

  “Yes. That’s me.”

  “Why does everyone think you’re dead?”

  Mara answered for him. “It’s a really long story. Like my recovery.”

  Cade sank back against the couch cushions. “Because the person who set the fire at my apartment is still after me.”

  “What?”

  Mara’s head snapped around. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

  He stood, grabbed Mara’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Give us a minute, please,” he said to Jen. He led Mara into her bedroom, and shut the door.

  “What are you doing?” Mara asked.

  “Trying to get my life back.”

  “You wanted to stay dead yesterday.”

  He pulled her against him and dug his fingers into her ass. “Yesterday, my pack was dead. Yesterday, you thought you were still sick. We hadn’t . . . I didn’t think I could stay with you. A lot can change in a day. I’m not suggesting we go to the Seattle Times and announce my triumphant return to the world of the living. But tell your best friend. I’m not leaving you, Mara. It’ll be easier if she knows the truth now.”

  Mara stared at him for a long time. Too long. He could barely resist stripping her naked and taking her. He dipped his head and nipped at her lower lip. A tiny purr of pleasure escaped her throat. Her body melted into his. God, he wanted her.

  She slammed her hands into his chest and forced a few inches of space between them. “Not now,” she gasped. “Not with Jen right outside.”

  Cade growled in frustration and released his mate. “Soon. Very soon.”

  Mara shivered and grinned. “Promise?”

  “Promise. Now go.” Cade stared at her swaying ass as she left the bedroom.

  Cade paced Mara’s living room as he told his story—minus the werewolf parts. His hands balled into fists at his side and he told Jen that his father had killed a woman once by accident and that woman’s daughter wanted revenge. He kept the story light on the details, hiding the horrors of his time as a caged animal, the endless nights of pain and loneliness, the hopelessness that had permeated his life until Mara. “I was trapped on Orcas for a while. I didn’t have a way off the island. She took my ID, money, everything. Mara saved me.”

  After he’d finished his story, Jen asked Mara for an Irish coffee. Mara busied herself in the kitchen and Jen led Cade to the couch with her lips pursed and her jaw clenched. When she took a deep breath, Cade braced himself for the worst.

  “Is Mara in danger?” Jen’s voice was only a whisper.

  “I don’t know. But I do know that my family’s on their way. We’re tighter than any family you’ve ever seen. And none of us will let anything happen to Mara. You won’t believe me, and that’s okay, but I’d die for her.”

  Jen stared him down. The alpha wolf in him bristled at the challenge, but he knew this was a dance that he had to do and he wouldn’t look away. Mara came back to the living room and passed Jen the coff
ee.

  “What are you two talking about?” she asked.

  Jen looked away from Cade and smiled at Mara. “Today, the role of Mara’s father will be played by Jen Larsen.” She turned back to Cade. “I’ve got a shotgun and I know how to use it.” Her face was sober, but a moment later she burst into laughter. “I don’t really.”

  Mara stifled a giggle. “Give him a break, okay. What’s been going on with you since Thanksgiving? Are you on break next week? I can’t make any definite plans yet, but maybe dinner next Friday? If I can work up the courage to tell Adam about Cade by then, he could meet everyone.”

  Cade relaxed with Mara at his side. They fell into easy conversation, chatting about the holidays, Jen’s job as a grammar school teacher, Mara’s hopes that she could return to work after the first of the year. Cade didn’t have a lot to contribute, but he made the occasional joke, tried to get to know the petite raven-haired woman who was his mate’s best friend. When his stomach rumbled, close to noon, Jen glanced down at her watch.

  “I should get going. I told my mom I’d help her set up her tree today. Cade, walk me out?”

  The women embraced and Cade trailed behind Jen as she slipped out the front door. He let the door close behind him, but not before sparing his mate a quick, reassuring smile.

  “Give me your worst,” he said, his voice resigned and sober.

  Jen’s lips quirked into a small smile. “So where’s the wolf?”

  “Gone.”

  “You got her to get rid of him?” Jen asked.

  A headache started behind Cade’s eyes. He should have known Jen wouldn’t let this go. Everyone who knew about the wolf would need an answer. “Not exactly. He left when I showed up.”

  Jen leaned forward and looked into Cade’s eyes. It wasn’t a challenging stare. No, it was more curiosity. “Huh.”

  Cade clenched his fists at his sides. “What?”

  “I’ve known Mara for more than a decade. I know when she’s lying to me. In fact, I know when everyone’s lying to me. Some people can sing, others can dance, I can spot a liar a mile away. You’re a werewolf.”

  The wave of nausea that rolled through Cade made him clutch his stomach and stagger back against the house. He cast a quick glance towards the door. Mara please come out here.

  “Calm down. I’m not going to tell anyone. Least of all Lil or Adam. I probably should have let you off the hook earlier, but I had to make you squirm a bit. She’s important to me. So don’t you hurt her.”

  “She’s my mate.”

  “Huh,” Jen said again. She shrugged and shook her head a little. “Well, then I believe you. You’d die for her.”

  “How’d you know? About the wolf.”

  Jen flashed Cade a bright smile. “Now that, Cade, is a story that not even Mara knows. Stick around, treat her well, and maybe one day I’ll tell you.”

  Mara cleaned up the coffee mugs, tossed the burnt eggs, and slid the dishes into the dishwasher. What was Jen doing out there with Cade? Unable to take it any longer, she threw open the front door and gaped. Cade sat on the stoop, leaning back on his hands.

  “Where’s Jen?”

  Cade tipped his head back to look at her. “She left.”

  “And?” Mara shivered in the cold. Or maybe it wasn’t all from the cold.

  “We had a little talk. She knows where the wolf went.”

  “What?” Mara’s eyes widened and her heart thudded against her chest. A few drops of water escaped her clenched fists.

  “Calm down, honey. I don’t know how, but she’s got some knowledge of werewolves. She wouldn’t tell me how she knew, but she knew.”

  “And?”

  “And we’re good. I’m not sure she likes me yet, but she knows I’m not leaving you.”

  Something inside Mara broke. Her eyes burned with the first prickles of tears that she refused to let fall. Jen’s visit had been a test of sorts—albeit unexpected. Cade might fit into her life. Or a life they’d form together. A shiver of anticipation ran down her spine. Jen accepted him. Of course, she’d have to corner her best friend and give her the third degree, but that could wait until after Cade’s pack showed up. How the hell did Jen know about werewolves anyway? And how did she know Cade was one?

  “Mara?” Cade’s deep voice broke through her thoughts. Her hands had gone numb. It was too cold outside and she needed to sit down. Now. “Come—” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat. “Come inside.”

  Cade shot her a look filled with intense passion and need. His normally glacier-blue eyes were as turbulent as ocean in a storm, and his full lips were set in an intense scowl. Under the Seahawks sweatshirt, his chest heaved with breath. Legs coiled and bunched and he sprang for her, grabbing her in his strong arms and tossing her over his shoulder.

  Giggling and squirming, she beat her fists on his back, but she had no desire to be anywhere but against his body. The front door slammed, locked, and she was flat on her back on her bed in seconds. Cade caged her body with his arms, a growl shooting raw need directly to her core.

  “You’re mine, honey. I want you. I need you.”

  Words didn’t seem adequate. Mara slid her hands under his sweatshirt, over the ridges of muscle along his abdomen, and up to his chest. His nipples were tiny hard nubs and she raked her short nails over the sensitive flesh. He growled again, grinding his pelvis into hers. Down her hands went, to the waistband of the jeans that were still too big, fumbling and then ripping off the belt, shoving the thick denim down to his knees.

  “I can’t be gentle,” he said. Cade attacked her with a savage kiss that left her breathless, lips swollen and tingling.

  “Do I. . .” she gasped, carding her fingers through his shaggy locks to pull him down for another kiss, “. . . seem fragile right now?”

  “God no.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” She tugged on a fistful of his hair, forcing his head up to look at her. “Take me.”

  Her sweater sailed across the room, leaving her breasts encased in the small lace triangles of her bra. I want you laid out like a banquet. His words came back to her when he tugged off her jeans, purring at the sight of her pale skin against the black lace. Socks, his sweatshirt, and his boxers quickly followed. Mara let her gaze trail slowly down his body. The scars would forever be a part of him, but even after only a few days, they’d faded slightly. His chest was filling out, and his cheeks were no longer hollow. His cock jutted out proudly from the patch of steely curls, a bead of his essence glistening.

  The scent of him calmed the storm of emotions rolling through her. She arched her back when his arms came around her, affording him the access to loosen her bra and jerk it roughly off of her body.

  “God. Your breasts are perfect. You’re perfect.” He palmed one soft mound and suckled the other in his mouth. Stubble tickled the sensitive skin. Mara writhed under him, aching for release. Cade bit down, hard. Pain stabbed her breast and shot to her core.

  “Cade! More,” she begged. It took everything she had to loosen her desperate grip on the bed sheets and try to push down her panties so he could fill her.

  He wasn’t gentle, but she didn’t care. With a grunt, he buried himself deep inside of her, the slick heat welcoming his length. “Not without you,” he growled and thrust twice. Enough to send shooting waves of pleasure all through her body, curling her toes, but not enough to send her over the edge.

  A mewl of disappointment escaped her lips unbidden when he pulled out, but the emptiness she felt from the absence of his cock was soon replaced by fingers and tongue. Two rough digits slipped inside of her and he lapped at the sensitive kernel of nerves above her entrance.

  “You taste like rain,” he whispered against her and the vibrations of his lips brought her closer to the edge. “All I need. Forever. You.”

  The storm of sensations built. Lids hooded, half-blind with the feel of him against her, Mara tried not to scream.

  “Go over, honey. Come for me,” he command
ed, biting down on her sweet spot and simultaneously thrusting three fingers deep inside of her. Her body contracted around him, an implosion that sucked all air from the room, bathed her naked skin with dew, and then shot out in a percussive wave, droplets of water hitting the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Her hoarse scream of release was foreign to her own ears. The waves wouldn’t stop, she couldn’t breathe, she could only feel. Helpless, she held onto him. It wasn’t until he slid into her that she came back to herself.

  “Cade.”

  “I’m right here, honey. Right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He took up a rhythm that matched the thumping of her heart. Gold flecks glowed in his glacier-blue eyes. His wolf took control, even in the body of the man. Deep, satisfied sounds of pleasure rolled through his chest. Their eyes locked. “Together this time,” he said with a grin and swirled his hips slightly against her.

  There was tenderness now, with his lips inches from hers. “You’re mine,” he said again, raining kisses along her jaw. “I’ll protect you forever if you’ll let me.”

  His teeth nipped at her neck, biting and holding her still as the pressure built again. This time it was sweet and luscious, taking her higher until she soared off the cliff. Held in his arms, they fell back to the earth together.

  Two hours later, totally spent, Mara rolled off of Cade’s body. “I need a shower. I think I’m dehydrated.” Mara headed for the bath, but Cade grabbed her arm and brought her wrist to his nose. “Hey.” She pulled her hand back. “You don’t need to sniff me every time I mention not feeling one hundred percent.”

  He growled. It wasn’t a word, but a possessive, guttural demand for her to freeze in her tracks and look at him. Nothing prepared her for the shock of heat that flashed through her.

  “I can tell how strong your element is, honey. And you can be damn sure I’m not going to let it weaken. Go. I’m going to get you a glass of water and I’ll be in.” He turned on his heel and strode naked out of the room.

  Mara stood still and sputtered to herself. Stupid alpha male bullshit. They were going to have to have a serious talk about this. She grabbed her robe and ducked into the bathroom across the hall. The water relaxed her aching muscles. Eleanor warned her that the first few days would be tough, but every part of her body ached like she’d run a marathon. Even with the pain and the exhaustion, she felt better now than she’d felt in months.