Shifting Dreams (29 page)

The thick golden fur shone with a dull glow in the moonlight. With one flick of its giant back paw, the lion kicked the rifle into the still-running water of the wash as Caleb came up, clutching his 9 mm. He aimed at the shifter, who hissed and sprang on him. Caleb’s arms were knocked to the side when the gun went off. Then the lion pounced on him and a hawk’s scream echoed in the night air. The lion lifted his head, searching the sky, then jumped off Caleb and disappeared into the night.

The breath roared back into his chest and he placed one hand over his heart, waiting for it to calm before he stood. He heard the hawk cry out again.

“Jena, where are you?” He looked around in panic. “Jena?”

Did that cry mean she was hurt? In pain? The second cry had sounded closer. That must have meant she was still flying, right?

Caleb turned in circles, wishing he could see better, but he was caught in a small sliver of ground between the canyon wall and the running wash. The water flowed on one side; sheer rock rose on the other. How the hell was he even going to get out?

Where was she?

He heard a rush of wind overhead and looked up. Silhouetted against the night sky was a raptor who wheeled around, suddenly diving with frightening speed straight toward him. He backed up, his heart racing. “Jena?”

It shrieked a high, ear-splitting noise that echoed off the rocks. Suddenly, the hawk’s wings spread, tilting up as the talons reached down. As if he was watching slow motion, he saw it. The watery shimmer that enveloped the bird as its legs lengthened and its wings thinned. Feathers transformed into smooth skin and wild brown hair as she reached the ground, crouching down in a feral pose for a moment before she looked up and ran toward him.

Completely naked. Utterly wild. Foreign and magic and beautiful. Caleb’s heart wasn’t racing in fear anymore. Jena’s eyes were still lit gold when she ran toward him.

“Are you hurt?” Her voice was hoarse and frantic. Her eyes raced over his body.

He held out his arms. “I’m fine. Are you?”

She didn’t speak, running quivering hands over his shoulders, inspecting the tears in this shirt where the lion’s claws had pierced. Touching. His skin came alive. His sight. His hearing. Every one of his senses careened to life. Jena was safe. He was alive. The adrenaline surged through him and he grabbed her, lifting her up. Jena wrapped her legs around his waist and clutched at his hair. A low, rough sound escaped her throat, almost like a cry.

“It’s okay,” he tried to sooth her. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

Her heart raced and her breath came in frantic gasps until Caleb put a hand on her cheek. Then she stilled. He ran his fingers over her jaw, trailing through her hair, then down. “Are you okay?” She gave a slight nod. “We’re safe, Jena. We’re safe.” His hand slid down her spine as she arched into him. Over the round swells of her hips, teasing the sensitive crease between her bottom and the back of her thigh.

The rough sound came again. It was the same sound she’d made when he’d kissed her the first time months before. Need. Desire. His hand gripped, pressing her closer. He wanted… oh, how he wanted her. In that moment, it was the only thought in his mind.

“Do you know?” he whispered. “Do you know what you do to me?”

Her wild eyes met his; Caleb was pinned beneath her stare. Jena’s hands loosened their grip in his hair and slid down, digging into his shoulders, causing him to wince. She didn’t notice. Her eyes were foreign and predatory. She looked as if she were still hunting.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jena’s head tilted to the side when she heard him hiss. He was uninjured save for the marks on his shoulders. Her fingers trailed over them in a quick swipe as he grunted and tensed. Then she leaned forward and ran her nose along his neck, from his collar, up the side of his neck, to his throat, where she took a deep breath.

He smelled like sand and rain. He was alive beneath her, and the predator in her wanted him.

She pulled at the hair at the back of Caleb’s neck and tugged him toward her. Their mouths crashed together as he stumbled. Then Caleb kneeled down and she straddled his legs, pushing the torn shirt from his shoulders, desperate to feel his skin hot beneath her hands. His arms wrapped around her back and his fingers dug in possessively. She would see bruises in the morning. His hand twisted in her hair and she gasped, pulling away from his mouth as she bowed back. He licked down her chest until he latched onto the tip of one small breast and sucked. Sensation long forgotten careened through her. He released her and went after the other, interspersing kisses with teasing licks and tiny bites. She moaned and arched into him, but soon pulled his mouth back to hers, tugging at his clothes, scrambling to feel his skin.

More!
Her instincts screamed. She had to have him.

Caleb pulled one arm away from her and shook off his shirt. His chest was hot against hers, burning up in the cool desert night. She fumbled with the buttons on his jeans, finally getting them loose enough to shove down his hips. He stood and turned, pressing Jena into the cool rock wall, running desperate fingers between her legs before he pulled away, poised at her center.
 

She stilled, meeting his eyes as he slid into her. They were open, locked on hers in a way that made her heart stutter. Then Caleb sank to the hilt and groaned, burying his face in her neck as she held him close. Their hearts beat together before he began to move. She held on, surging with him as he thrust.

It was hard and frantic. Her back scraped against the rocks, though Caleb did his best to hold her. His hands would be bloodied from it. She clung to him, her nails digging into the flesh on his shoulders, but he didn’t flinch. Her pleasure began to mount. He moved faster. Harder.

Caleb pulled his head back and caught her eyes again, holding her captive with a look as he drove them toward the edge. Her breath caught. Held. Suddenly, Jena was hurtling toward climax in a swift, heart-stopping dive. Caleb fell to his knees, holding on to her as she threw her head back and cried into the black desert. Then his body tensed and she pulled him close, pressing them skin to skin as he shuddered in release.

“Jena, Jena, Jena,” he whispered against her neck. She was shivering, her body racked with tremors. Caleb held her gently, stroking her bare skin while his own prickled in the cool night air. She stretched up, luxuriating in the pleasure of the fine hair on his chest brushing over her sensitive breasts. She could feel his heart pounding, his release at the juncture of her thighs…
 

Jena froze.

Oh shit.

“Jena?” He sounded drowsy. “Are you okay?”

She scrambled away from him, and his head jerked up. “Jena?”

“Shit!” She looked around in panic.

“Are you okay?” His voice was growing in alarm. “Did I hurt you?”

“No!” She whispered, “No, I just… Oh God, what was I thinking?”
 

His confusion fell away and he tried to grab for her. “Don’t.”

“This was… we shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t. Don’t do this. This was not a mistake.”

Jena tried to speak, but the protest was mangled in her throat. She shook her head, fingers digging into her scalp as she backed away from him. What had she done? What was she thinking? Even worse was the growing hurt on Caleb’s face.
 

Not you, not you!
She wanted to cry. Didn’t he realize? He walked toward her and her eyes flew to the sky. To safety.

His eyes followed hers, then narrowed. “Don’t you dare, Jena Crowe.”

She took one more step back and drew in a deep breath.

“Jena…”

She whispered, “I can’t.” Then she closed her eyes and her hawk leapt forward, throwing itself into the night as Caleb shouted beneath her.

“Why are you running away?” he yelled. “Dammit, Jena, get back here!”

She shrieked and circled around, aching to go to him, but as frightened by the thought of leaving him as she was by staying.

“Why?” he shouted again as she wheeled away.

Because I’m in love with you.

And Jena Crowe was scared to death.

She was sobbing when she landed on Ted’s porch, naked and beginning to feel the effects of their frantic coupling. She ached; there would be bruises on her back. Her thighs. And she knew Caleb would have score marks on his back from her nails. Bite marks on his neck. She winced at the thought before she pounded on the door. A few moments later, Ted pulled it open, blinking.

“What are you doing here?” Then her eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

“We… we were up at Old Quinn’s—”

“Did he attack you?” Ted pulled her into the house. “You had to shift? Where’s Caleb? Is he okay?”

“No!” She shook her head quickly. “I mean, yes, we’re both okay. We were driving back and someone shot at us. I shifted and went to look. Caleb ran into the desert. I don’t know why. But a gun went off, and I came back and—and…”

“And what?” Ted’s eyes were wide. “Jena,
is he okay?
”

“There was a lion on him. Not attacking, just… I don’t know. Crouched. It ran off, but I was so scared. I thought it was going to kill him. I shifted back, but he wasn’t hurt. He kissed me. Or I kissed him.” She closed her eyes, the tears running down her face. “We… Ted, we—”

“Oh, you had sex with him.” Ted pulled her into a hug. “Oh wow. Okay. Just calm down.”

“And—” She hiccupped. “It was crazy. And wonderful and—I mean, it was like nothing—”

“Calm down,” Ted said in a soothing voice. “This is a big deal for you. I know you have some serious feelings for this guy. Forget all the times Allie and I teased you. This is you. And you don’t…” Suddenly, it was like a light switched on. “Wait, this
just
happened?”

Jena flushed and nodded.

“So, you just had crazy, wonderful sex with a man who is, if not in love with you already, well on the way, and… you flew here?”

She shrank under her friend’s glare. “Kinda.”

Ted shook her head, obviously confused. “What happened? Did he freak out? Say something stupid?”

“No…”

Ted’s eyes bugged out. “You panicked and flew away? Jena!”

“I’m sorry!”

“I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to!”

“I know!”

They both paused until Ted started shaking her head. “Listen, I know you’re Miss Cautious. I know you have trouble accepting that people are going to hang around and not die on you, but you better fly your ass back out there and—”

“I think I’m in love with him.”

Ted’s shoulders slumped and Jena started crying again. “Oh, Jena.”

“I am. And I have no idea what’s going to happen. I don’t know how to do this. I’m scared to death. There was only ever Lowell. And it seemed like we had always loved each other. What if he doesn’t love me back? What if he does, but he doesn’t want everything that comes with me? What if the boys—?”

“Whoa!” Ted held up a hand. “You need to stop right there. You are getting way ahead of yourself and you just left the poor man out in the desert. Where, I might add, he was shot at and attacked by a cougar not long ago.”

Her heart plunged. “And I left him out there alone!”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious. Will you get out of here and go find the poor man?”

She spun around right before she got to the door. “He probably won’t even talk to me. Oh…” She groaned. “He’s going to be pissed.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Get your naked ass out of my house and go find the sexy people-shifter, please? We might actually need him.”

Jena winced. “I’m an idiot.”

“I’m not disagreeing.” Ted slapped her bare butt and shoved her out the door. “Go. Now. Don’t come back unless you’re bleeding from something other than love bites.”

Jena found him stalking back to the road wearing a stormy expression and a pair of torn up jeans. What was left of his shirt was hanging in his hand. He saw her flying above him and stuck one hand out, flipping her the bird as she landed.

“That’s kind of ironic, if you think about it.”

“Take off, Jena. That seems to be the easiest thing for you to do.”

“I’m trying to apologize.” He kept walking and she ran after him, embarrassed for the first time she could remember by her nudity. Shifters weren’t modest, as a rule, and Jena was long past being self-conscious about her body. But now, she felt exposed. Weaker than her mate. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. “Will you stop?”

“Nope.” He stomped down the path that ran parallel to the wash, still refusing to look at her. She heard him muttering under his breath.

Jena stopped and watched him. He wasn’t hurt—not physically, anyway. He knew where he was going. His truck was just up the road. She should let him go and fly away. Let him lick his wounds in peace and forget about her overly complicated self. The thought pierced her heart with a pain that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. She barely recognized it, but it was there.

Heartache.

“I panicked, all right?” she yelled out, her voice breaking and tears coming to her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He must have heard her tears because he paused and turned. He looked like he was about to say something mean. Then he paused and scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. “Why did you leave? Did I hurt you? Scare you?”