Shifter's Moon (Paranormal Shifter Romance) Read online

  “Looking at stars with you, last time I checked,”

  “I mean out here,” she said, trying to make an all encompassing gesture, “I feel like there’s more to it than you wanting to find inspiration.”

  Am I that transparent, he thought, and pursed his lips. “What makes you think there’s more to me than meets the eye?”

  “I can smell it,” she snapped back, and flared her nostrils at him menacingly.

  “I guess you’re right. I came out here to get away from things. One of my editors dropped me, and my last two books flopped. And on top of that,” he wondered if she should mention Alissa. She was like a burr on the proverbial sleeve of his thoughts. Every time he thought he’d managed to dislodge there, she appeared again, scratching him. “On top of that, I wanted to go somewhere I could just empty my brain.”

  “Girl troubles?” she asked, and Jake turned a panicked eye toward her, as if she’d overheard his own mental processes or had been spying on his thoughts.

  “You could say that. My girlfriend – ex-girlfriend, now, Christ – we split about three months ago. No warning at all, just… took off. Geez, it sounds so anticlimactic when I say it out loud.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake. Why did she leave?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I never got the chance to ask,” he said and his voice seemed to drift off and blend into the blackness of the lake. There really is nothing more to say, is there? She was there, and then she wasn’t.

  “You really loved her, didn’t you?”

  “I thought I did. Now I’m not so sure. I think I loved the idea of her more than who she really was. I’m not sure I really knew who she was or vice versa.”

  They were quiet again, but Jake felt as if a huge weight had been tipped off his chest. He took in a deep breath, and started to laugh to himself. We really are such simple creatures, he mused, and our hearts are just as simple. By admitting that one fact to himself, outside of himself, that maybe he really hadn’t loved Alissa seemed to make all the difference. For ages he had been stuck on one page of his life, unable to turn it over, but now he could. His ears perked up again and he heard another loon call holler across the reservoir’s flat palm, a haunting lonely laugh.

  He reached out and his palm settled over hers. She looked up from her own reverie and gave him a small smile, and without warning stood up on her knees and propped herself over him, her legs straddling either side of him. He felt his heart slam against his chest, and Lia’s strong steely fingers wrapped around the back of his head. He looked up and saw a grin spread over her features. What am I doing, he thought briefly.

  “I’m going to kiss you now,” Jake announced in a whisper, moving his own hands up the small of her back and drawing her closer.

  “God, that took you long enough. I thought it-” she was cut short as Jake leaned into her and his lips touched hers with a furiousness that left them both stunned.

  He kissed her harder, feeling the warmth of her body move against him. Their mouths explored each other’s and both of them clutched at one another as if there were some force that meant to drive them apart, and the only thing that could prevent it was their own mad embrace. She was like a wild animal, writhing against him, and as he kissed her again he felt her shoulders shake as if she was sobbing and pulled her back so that the edge of her face caught the faint glow of the moon. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her lips were tight crescents.

  “Lia…” he said breathlessly.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, and tried to turn away but he held her close.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She shook her head and wiped at her cheeks. “Nothing. I’m just… an idiot. I’m sorry. I keep expecting to wake up. I’m not good at…. this.”

  “Making out?” Jake joked, and his face hardened when he saw Lia’s face was still etched with some painful secret she hadn’t let slip.

  “I mean being close to someone. Most people run away, or leave. I’m just… happy right now, I didn’t want the moment to go away,” she sniffed and shook her head. “I’m so stupid.”

  Jake reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand again, and his eyes had a profound seriousness to them. He took several moments to find the right words and finally spoke them, his gaze penetrating the darkness, as if he was trying to burrow a promise into Lia’s heart.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Lia. I’m not afraid of you,” he whispered, and he saw more tears brim at the corners of her eyes and tumble down the supple roundness of her cheeks. He pulled her close again and kissed her, and felt their scalding heat burn his own cheek, and for the first time in a long time the thought of work, of Alissa, of his own failings as he tried to maneuver through his life, all crumbled away. They had been replaced by something else.

  Don’t cry, he thought, wrapping his arms tighter around her. Lia gently curled into him, tucking her head against his chest. The muscles of his arms stood out even in the dim light, but he refused to let her go, and after a time her sobs began to dissipate and she simply clutched weakly at the collar of his hoodie.

  As they lied down on the hard dirt he felt Lia’s breathing change as she passed quietly into sleep. He held her a while longer and stared at the long arm of galaxy above him. A great sense of peace seemed to wash over him. The girl in his arms made a low whimper, caught in a dream, and he drew a curly black lock hair out of her eyes. A shooting star above skimmed the atmosphere, initialing the night with its bright tail.

  Chapter Eight

  In the morning Jake woke up to the hot slap of the sun as it breached the horizon. He sat up and groaned, feeling a lump in his back where he’d slept on the uneven ground. He brushed the dust off himself and stood up. Lia was nowhere to be seen and he considered shouting her name but decided against it. Down the path he could hear the faint sound of talking and laughter, and his nose detected the burnt smell of coffee. His stomach gurgled.

  “Hungry much?” Lia said, and he whirled around.

  She had rolled her black jeans up to her calves and was breathing heavily, her face flushed and eyes alert. She leaned over, palms on her knees, and got her breath. Jake noticed there were twigs in her hair and several dirt scuffs on her knees and on her cheek.

  “What were you doing? Tackling a bear?”

  “Just went for a morning run. My legs took control and I had to submit,” she said, “although looking at that sun on the water, I’m kind of wanting to go for a swim now.”

  “Are you kidding? That water’s probably like ice,” he said, and couldn’t help but let out a shiver as he gazed over the edge of the rocks. The deep blue of the reservoir glared back at him, daring him to pierce its surface.

  Lia was already unfastening the belt of her jeans when Jake turned back. “You scared?” she asked, unzipping and pulling the jeans down around her ankles.

  Jake felt a lump grow in his throat, and took another look at the reservoir, then back at Lia who was shuffling out of the T-shirt. In her underwear and bra she looked like an Amazon warrior, and he couldn’t erase the image from his mind. Her long beautiful legs blended seamlessly into her hips, and he could perceive even the most imperceptible movement of her abdomen as she took in another deep breath. She put her arms over her head and stretched left and right, and Jake lowered his eyes from the small rise of her breasts.

  “You’re certainly not shy,” he observed, tentatively lifting his own shirt over his head.

  “Small-town habit,” she said, walking past him and looking over the cliff as she gauged its height, “besides, what’s the point of propriety? I like to be free.”

  Jake stifled a laugh and unzipped his jeans. He wasn’t particularly proud of his physique, but he knew he was more in shape than most people. As a writer, half of his time was spent coming up with ideas, and the other half was procrastination, which usually equated to working out. His strong chest angled sharply into a solid abdomen that stood out as he grunted with his pants that had snagged around his ankle. Lia cast a
devilish glance in his direction, eyeing him up as if she planned to fight him later on. She, too, stifled a grin of her own as he stood before her in his briefs, somewhat awkwardly. He grunted and cleared his throat.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. You just look like you’ve never been naked before,”

  “I’m not naked,”

  “You know what I mean,” she said.

  “Let’s just… get this over with. I’m already shivering,” he said, edging closer to the edge.

  Lia reached down instinctively and he felt her hand clasp his. It was probably no more than twenty feet, but from the ledge the drop looked considerably taller. Sunlight sparkled against the water as the clouds parted briefly and turned it aquamarine. He heard the lap of waves break gently against the steep granite. He turned and looked Lia, and she nodded vigorously. On cue they both jumped, and Lia let out a loud whoop as they sailed into the air. He felt Lia’s hand still in his clench harder just before they hit the water, and felt the overwhelming sting of cold water ignite all of his nerves at once. His head broke the surface and he gasped.

  “GEEZUS, that’s cold!” he said, wiping water out of his eyes.

  Lia popped up beside him and immediately started laughing through chattering teeth. “I definitely didn’t think it was this cold,” she said.

  Jake started laughing too and had to work extra hard to keep himself from sinking under the chilly waves. Lia moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and her face hovered inches from his.

  “I’m gonna sink!” he warned.

  “Just hold us for a moment,” she said, and her head dipped toward his. He felt her lips again and opened his mouth to accept her kiss. He treaded water and supported both their weights as she wrapped her body against his. Despite the glacial temperature of the water, her lips were still warm, and he felt the heat of her breath move inside him as they floated, suspended almost by their own desires.

  By the time they had managed to find a portion of the cliff to crawl out of, Jake’s arms were stiff with the cold, and they both had to help each other crawl up the granite. For several minutes they both laid, gasping on a gentle incline of stone, as their bodies regained their heat and the blood re-entered their limbs.

  Jake found himself continually surprised by Lia’s beauty. How could he not have seen it before? Her dark skin seemed to collect the sunlight and bend it at will, and he found himself drawn to the gentle rise and fall of every facet of her body. Her skinny shoulders accented the raised ridge of her clavicle, and even on her back her breasts seemed to support themselves. She turned when she saw him looking at her and pulled the glistening locks of black hair over the round dome of her forehead and wrinkled her nose at him again.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I think I smell bacon,” he said, motioning down the shoreline where the others had another fire going. Roy seemed to notice them and waved at them mutely with a metal spatula.

  “You and your bacon. I was thinking we could head back to my place, you haven’t tasted a real breakfast until you’ve had my grandma’s cooking.”

  “That’d be lovely,” he said, and kissed her head. She blushed and pushed him back.

  They dressed, said goodbye to the others, and clambered back up the steep hill to the parking lot. Jake was amazed at how tireless she was. Even after a morning run she was like a mountain goat beside him, and he fell to the ground gasping when they reached her bike.

  “I had to get you to work up an appetite,” Lia winked, and tossed the bike helmet at him.

  He took his seat behind her and wasn’t shy this time about wrapping his arms around her waist. The Triumph purred to life, and she defiantly aimed it up the narrow logging road, and before long they were back on the mainline, the coarse air staggering against both their faces. It took no time for them to dry off again, and he felt fresher than he had in a long time. He knew it was just psychological, but the swim in the reservoir had washed away whatever anxiety he still had that he’d carried over from his life in the city. I could easily spend more time here, he thought. And why not? If it wasn’t any indication so far, he had been more productive with his writing here than he had been for the last three months back home.

  His thoughts were cut drastically short as Lia made the turn back up the gravel road that led to her acreage on the farm, and she turned over her shoulder and shouted. “Do you smell that?” she asked, and he took in a deep breath through his nose.

  “No, I can’t. What does it smell like?” he hollered back over the blare of the engine.

  Lia didn’t respond, but pulled back harder on the throttle and he tightened his grip around her as the tires skidded on the rough road. A huge plume of dust spilled out behind them and he tried to sniff the air again, but there was still nothing out of the ordinary: the scent of the engine and oil, the faint tang of the forest, but nothing alarming. He was about to ask her again, but she had gone stiff and he had to use all his focus just to coordinate leaning into the curves as she tore up the country road.

  As they made the last big turn that opened up into the meadowed valley he suddenly caught a whiff of something else, and as he strained to identify it he could only picture the raging mess of bonfire back at the reservoir. Smoke. Up ahead he saw a spindle of black smog tunneling up into the air, and Lia cranked harder on the accelerator until he was worried they might fly right off the road.

  “Oh god,” he heard Lia murmur over the wind rushing past his ears.

  The barn was alight and huge billows of black smoke piled out of the rafters, and even from this distance they could hear the shuddering crack of the fire eating away at the dry wood and hay. The small cottage where Lorelei lived was also smoking, but it had already suffered the brunt of the fire and Jake could make out the skeletal charred remains of the foundation. As they neared closer the stench of smoke and ash became overbearing.

  Lia slammed the breaks and leapt off the bike as she raced towards the smoking ruin of the cottage.

  “Lia, wait!” Jake said, casting off his helmet and running after her. There were still flames raging from the small dwelling and he could feel the heat of it. Lia was oblivious to his voice as she single-mindedly hurried toward the house.

  “Lia, goddamit, wait!” he repeated, feeling fear creep into his being again. What had happened? His mind tried to piece together the events, but there were too many unknowns elements. What had happened to consume both the barn and the cottage in flames? They were far enough apart that he had to rule out an accident. One word circled around in his head like a vulture: Arson.

  He finally caught up with Lia at the edge of the cottage. She had sunk to her knees, and as he turned to look he understood why. The cottage was entirely a lost cause. Most of it was gutted from the fire, and what was still salvageable was a blazing torrent of orange and yellow. He sunk down beside her, and put his arm around her but she was catatonic, and he felt his heart collapse on itself.

  “Lia...”

  “Can’t be…” she said, and started to repeat the same two words, “can’t be… can’t be.”

  Jake felt her trembling and was about to say something else when he saw a stirring behind a portion of the cottage that had already collapsed. Lia saw it too and both of them wordlessly hustled toward the ruined part of the roofing. Jake hissed as he threw one of the beams off, feeling the bright red blister of a coal burn into his palm. Lia dug under the plywood and pulled back a blackened piece.

  Lorelei’s fiery eyes peered back from a tomb of charcoal. She was still alive, but it looked like one of the logs of the house had clipped her arm, which was bent at an awkward angle. She coughed and squinted, trying to ascertain who her rescuers were, and when she saw Lia her eyes filled with tears.

  “Lia, my god, I was worried… I was worried they’d gotten to you,” she coughed.

  Jake and Lia tore the rest of the detritus away from the woman’s frail form. “Who? Who did this?” Lia pleaded, bending down.
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br />   Lorelei cast a suspicious eye at Jake, but eventually lowered her head. “They found us, dear. After all this time, I don’t know how… but they found us… I tried to reason with them,” she said, allowing the two others to lift her up. They stumbled slowly toward the driveway, and there was another explosion as the flames claimed another part of the cottage. “All these years,” Lorelei repeated.

  “What is she talking about?” Jake hissed, but Lia merely cast her eyes at the ground.

  “We need to get out of here,” Lia finally said, “we’ll take the pickup.”

  Jake frowned, not happy with Lia’s avoidance of his question, but one look at Lorelei’s condition told him he’d have to leave his questions until later. The old Ford still had the keys in the ignition and after a few false-starts it grumbled irritably to life and he hopped back out and helped Lia lift the older woman into the cab.

  “I’ll drive this time, just tell me how to get to the hospital,” he said, slamming the door and cranking the old monster of a truck into reverse. It made a horrible grinding sound and he winced.

  “No hospital,” Lia said, and Jake took it to mean as there wasn’t a hospital nearby, but realized after seeing the fear in her face that she meant we aren’t going to a hospital. He’d only seen that look once before on her face, during the fight with the biker. He combed the hair back out of his eyes with one hand and felt the soot of the fire clinging to the pores of his skin.

  “What do you mean ‘no hospital’?” he turned angrily, “we need to get her help now!”

  Lia turned at him, her face reciprocating his anger, but strained with an emotion that was stronger than his, and nameless. “Don’t argue with me. Just drive. Take us to your place, now,” Lia said calmly, and strapped the seatbelt in. He noticed that there was a thin gash down the outside of her arm that already had a thin band of dried blood running down it.

  Jake swore under his breath and peeled out. The old Ford bumped viciously over the gravel, its suspension long since exhausted or rusted out. Lorelei made a groaning sound, her eyes closed and mouth muttering something undecipherable. She clutched her wounded arm across the singed front of her dress, and he felt a writhing nausea work its way through him. He rolled the window all the way down and tried to get a fresh breath of air, but all he could smell was the blunt reel of smoke.