A Shift in the Water (30 page)

“I didn’t mean to upset you. That was supposed to be a good thing. Don’t you want a mate?”

“I’m not a werewolf. Humans don’t think in those terms. That only happens in romance novels. We date, we fall in love, we get married. Y’all go right from first date to basically married.”

“Y’all?”

Mara snorted quietly. “When I get stressed, my Southern accent comes out. Aunt Lil’s rubbed off on me.” She rolled her head around, trying to relax her neck.

“You’re tired. He’d be mad at me if he knew I kept you up. Go back to bed. I’m going to eat something. It’ll be light in half an hour. I’d have stayed out there, but the pup wants his breakfast and he’s pretty damn insistent about it.”

Livie rose, but Mara grabbed her arm, turning the tables. “Wait. I need to ask you something.” A short shrug gave Mara the opening she wanted. “Is he still your alpha?”

“Huh?” Livie jerked in surprise. “Of course he is. Why would you ask me that?”

“Because Cade doesn’t know. He thinks Liam challenged. It’s eating away at him.”

“Bullshit.” Livie’s stomach growled. “Boss-man needs to chill out.” She yawned. “I’ll tell him when he wakes up. Now go. He’s mated with you. He’s not going to want you out of his sight for a while. He won’t be able to stand it—not touching you, seeing you. Werewolves are a little . . . possessive.”

Mara trudged back to her bedroom. What had happened? Livie’s whole demeanor changed over the course of that one conversation.
Of course it did
, she told herself.
She needed to know you weren’t going to hurt her alpha.

She dropped her robe on the foot of the bed and slipped under the sheets next to Cade. A quiet rumbling thunder rolled through his chest. “Mara.”

“I’m here.”

“Mine.” His arm banded around her waist and he nuzzled her hair. He pressed his lips to her neck and bit down lightly. “Mine.”

Fourteen

Sun streamed in through a crack in the gray drapes, but it did little to heat the room. They’d slept another hour, perhaps two, after Mara’s conversation with Livie. Cade shifted under the blankets and slid his hand down her arm. He stiffened at her back.

“Where did these bruises come from?” His voice was a low growl, barely controlled.

Mara twisted to face him and took his hand. She gently flipped his palm and stroked her fingers over the scarred flesh. The skin was reddish and shiny. “Don’t be angry.”

“Mara.” The single word warned her it was too late for that.

She curled her fingers around his and held them tightly. His bright blue eyes were flecked with gold as the wolf simmered under his skin. “I let Livie in earlier. We had a little
talk
.”

“She did this?” Cade tried to pull away, but Mara cupped the back of his neck.

“I’m
fine
.”

She didn’t see him move, didn’t even know his arms were around her until she was rolled and atop his lean, hard body. He was too thin. They both were, but the strength of his embrace shocked her. He was breathing heavily.

Mara dipped her head, brushing her lips against his cheek. Kisses trailed from his ear down his neck and she bit his shoulder lightly. He shivered and Mara wriggled her body so she could look him in the eyes. They were both still naked, and the feel of his length under her quickened her breath. Her palms dampened as her element swam beneath her skin.

Her legs parted in invitation, framing his hips, and he groaned.

“Clothes. Now,” Cade managed. “Otherwise I’m going to take you again.”

Would that be so bad?
Mara hadn’t felt this needy for a man’s touch in years. With Cade, every feeling she had was dialed up to eleven. Or higher. She ground her hips against his with a sly smile.

“Mara. Please.” Cade grasped her hips firmly and slid her off his body. “Put something on.”

He rolled away, threw his legs over the side of the bed, and tugged on his boxers. He was hard and fighting for control of his breath. The taut muscles of his stomach quivered with every inhalation and his irises glowed with power.

The look in his eyes impressed upon her the seriousness of his plea. Something inside of him was about to snap, and while a part of her wanted him to lose control, to take her and do whatever he wanted with her, she knew there were more important matters than sex. His pack and Katerina for starters. Mara scrambled off the bed and tugged on her pajamas. She could smell him on her. In her tousled hair, on her oversensitive skin, inside of her. Cade was everywhere.

“I need to see Livie,” he said, donning his jeans awkwardly, grimacing as he tried to force his hard length behind the denim. His bare chest heaved with one heavy, deep breath. “And I need a couple of minutes. A little space. It’s too hard. Not . . . taking you. Stay here. I’ll bring you coffee and then we’ll talk.”

With that, he strode from the room and slammed the door.

“I hope wolves aren’t always this temperamental,” Mara muttered. She studied her reflection for a moment and ran a comb through her auburn locks. Not that Cade seemed to care if she was unkempt. It was more to keep her hands busy. She wandered over to the window and peered out a crack in the drapes. Clouds gathered on the horizon, dark and foreboding. It would rain soon. Mara flexed her fingers. They ached. Her entire body ached. She hadn’t confessed to Cade—or to anyone else—but using her element still hurt. She felt better than she had in months, but she was exhausted, sore, and spent. With a shrug, she climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. Coffee would help. Until Cade returned, she’d relax.

Cade stood at the kitchen counter, staring out the window. He couldn’t stand being next to Mara right now. Not without kissing her, being wrapped around her, being inside of her. Until the full moon, he’d be irritable and insanely jealous of anyone who touched or even looked at her the wrong way. The mating wasn’t complete. Not yet. Wolves who’d found their mates typically avoided any intimate contact until the night of the full moon, for that was the day the mating call was the strongest. The bond was cemented by running together and coupling as wolves. But how would it work with Mara? Cade wouldn’t shift again and she was human—or something close to human. He didn’t know if he could stand to be in the same house as her for another ten days until the moon reached its apex. He couldn’t leave her, couldn’t stay. And as much as he loved Livie, he could snap her neck for hurting his mate.

“Boss-man?” Livie padded out to join him. She wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a faded blue sweatshirt. Her angled bob fell across her scarred cheek. She was pale. Her arms cradled her belly.

Cade saw red. For the second time in as many days, Livie had hurt Mara. He growled and grabbed her by the arms. He lifted her up onto her toes and barely avoided shaking her. Despite her pregnancy, she wasn’t fragile, but fear flashed in her blue eyes as they widened. “You put your hands on Mara. You left a bruise.”

Her pasty cheeks flushed with color. “I’m sorry, boss-man. Really. I didn’t mean to. I needed to know she wasn’t going to hurt you. I’m not used to touching humans. Or elementals. We don’t bruise like they do. All I wanted to do was stop her from walking out on me. She’s yours. I get it. I’d never hurt her.”

Livie looked away almost immediately, a sign of submission to Cade’s strength. He couldn’t ask her if he was still her alpha, but even if he wasn’t, his wolf was stronger and Livie knew it.

“You shouldn’t have touched her at all.” He couldn’t stand the idea of another wolf hurting Mara. Not now. Not when the mating call was so strong.

A tiny whine, the sound of Livie’s wolf apologizing, reached his ears. Cade released her and turned back to the kitchen window. “I can’t handle being close to her. Or being apart. I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin. I shouldn’t have let myself lose control and take her last night. Now I’ve got ten days of this shit to deal with.”

“I remember.” Her voice dropped low. “Shawn and I couldn’t stand to see each other the couple of days before the ceremony. I locked myself in Christine’s apartment. She had to babysit me so I wouldn’t go to him.”

Cade pressed the button on the espresso machine to turn it on. A whir and hum from the machine marked the grinding of beans and the rich scent of espresso wafted over him. “It gets better, doesn’t it?” He turned back to Livie.

“Yeah.” She chuckled. “The first month I was with Shawn, it was terrible. I didn’t want him out of my sight. Christine brushed against him by accident about a week after we mated and I nearly lost it. But it passed.” She laid her hand on Cade’s arm and he stiffened. He didn’t want Livie touching him. She laughed and pulled her hand away. “Sorry. You need to go screw her again. It’ll lessen the pull. Always did it for me.”

Livie snagged the first mug of espresso out of the machine and cupped it protectively in her hands. “This pup lives on caffeine. I’m going to turn on the TV. I won’t hear you.” She winked at Cade.

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve missed you.” If it wasn’t for the mating, he would have hugged her. Instead, he withdrew a carton of almond milk from Mara’s fridge and proceeded to make them both cappuccinos. A splash of vanilla syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon dusted Mara’s mug. She’d made herself cappuccinos several times when he’d been trapped as his wolf. He remembered the scent. He hoped he got it right.

When he returned to Mara’s bedroom, she was curled on her side, facing him. Her eyes were closed. He grinned and knelt, positioning the coffee mug below her nose.

“Honey, wake up. Coffee.”

Mara stretched under the blankets. Her eyes fluttered open. Green orbs the color of emeralds looked back at him. Cade smoothed a hand over her hair. Touching her calmed the storm inside of him. He’d known from the start, he realized now. From the first moment he’d seen her, from the first time he’d inhaled her delicious scent, he’d known she was his.

“I could get used to this,” she said, sitting up and accepting the coffee mug from his hand. She brought the mug to her lips and took a reverent sip. Her eyes narrowed. “What is this?”

“An almond milk cappuccino with cinnamon and vanilla. I got it right, didn’t I?”

“How’d you know?” She took another sip and licked her lips. Cade was mesmerized by the tiny flick of her tongue and the swell of her breasts under her shirt as she moved.

“You made them a couple of times when I was trapped as the wolf. The steamer wand was loud and scary. I didn’t like it. The first time I heard it, I hid under your bed.” Cade forced himself to look away as he shed his jeans, slid under the blankets, and rested his back against the headboard. “Some things I remember.”

“What else?” Mara snuggled close to him and he draped an arm around her shoulders. Everything about her was soft. Her skin against his chest. Her hair brushing his arm. Her legs against his. Rough fingers danced along her skin. He thanked whatever deity was up there that his fingertips still had sensation after everything Katerina had done to him.

“Sleeping on your bed. I wanted to be as close to you as I could. You made me feel better. At first, I didn’t even know I was a man. I was too far gone. I hadn’t had a coherent thought in months. That first night, all I knew was that I had to be next to you or I’d die. You saved my life.” Cade flushed a deep crimson. “And you smelled good.”

Mara laughed. “You like chlorine? I think it comes out of my pores these days.”

“Not chlorine—though I could smell that.” Cade pulled her closer and pressed his nose to her hair. “Your shampoo smells like coconut. Your soap is almonds. You smell like fresh rain. And coffee, of course. Every morning I could smell it on you. I remembered coffee. I knew that scent—missed it.” He smiled sheepishly. “The pack owned interest in a coffee shop in Bellingham. Best beans in town. I never much liked coffee before we bought that shop. Your beans are almost as good.”

“Almost?” Mara chuckled. “Well, fine. Tomorrow, you can come with me to the roaster in the University District and pick your own beans. Don’t insult my coffee, shaggy man. I take my coffee seriously. Does the shop still exist? Did you see it yesterday?”

“I didn’t look. I didn’t remember it until now.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, furrowing his brow. “Every few minutes, there’s something new. It’s like a dam broke. Bits and pieces of my life are falling into place.”