Midnight Touch

by L Ann

  The look on Cassie’s face told him she thought he was crazy, and Shaun knew she was expecting him to fail. What he didn’t understand was the way her scent flitted between obvious pleasure in his company to worry and fear so rapidly. He could almost taste her nerves when he’d hopped up onto the stage to take his turn and heard the relief in her sigh when he’d smiled at her.

  He knew she didn’t think he could sing, which was why she’d picked out a song which, if played loudly enough through the Karaoke machine, would hide most of the problems a less-talented singer would have. But he knew he had a good voice, a great voice, in fact. He also knew people looked at him, saw markings they thought were tattoos and his long hair and made an assumption. The most popular being that he couldn’t sing. Shaun really enjoyed proving people wrong.

  “Sit next to me,” he invited her, and patted the long bench seat as he sat down, waited for Cassie to settle beside him then placed the mic on top of the piano. He rested his fingers on the keys.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Cassie nodded. Shaun fiddled with the mic, positioning it so that it would pick up both his voice and the piano, then hit a few of the keys before launching into the opening of This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco. He threw Cassie one final smile, then opened his mouth to sing.

  Cassie’s jaw dropped, and he felt the waves of shock coming from her.

  It had been over a year since Shaun had sang, and yet the buzz of performing in front of people embraced him like an old friend. It didn’t matter that it was a bar full of strangers, instead of an evening in front of his pack. The feeling of satisfaction as people stopped what they were doing and took notice; when faces turned to watch, their drinks, conversations and games forgotten as the music washed over them, was just as intense.

  He fell into the role of entertainer, a role he’d forgotten about for so long, his fingers finding the keys while his voice took the crowd on a journey through the song. As smooth as caramel, his voice soared through the notes effortlessly. The atmosphere in the bar changed from amused resignation as people wailed through various songs to an electric anticipation as he paused between verses, then launched into the chorus one final time.

  When he hit the final note and the sounds of the piano faded into silence, nobody moved. Everybody was frozen in place, staring at him. He turned his head to look at Cassie. She was also staring at him, her eyes wide with genuine surprise, her lips parted, and Shaun couldn’t help himself. He lifted a hand, meaning to brush a finger against her cheek. The minute he touched her, his wolf stirred in the back of his mind and growled a soft demand. His fingers curved over her cheek, cupping her face, and he leaned forward and sealed his mouth to hers.

  He felt her hand land on his leg, just above his knee, and he paused, waiting for her to push him away. She didn’t move, didn’t pull her mouth from his and he took that as a green light, deepening the kiss. His tongue swiped across her bottom lip once, twice, until she opened wide enough to let him in. He could taste the beer she had been drinking, but beneath that there was a sweeter flavour. It reminded him of strawberries, both sweet and tart. A little like the woman herself. The woman whose nails were digging into his leg, fingers kneading and flexing against the muscles in his thigh as their kiss continued.

  Shaun could feel something building inside him, something both new and recognisable. A need to connect, to protect, to claim – his wolf’s soul demanding recognition and acceptance – and he was seriously considering scooping Cassie up into his arms and taking her somewhere more private to explore the possibilities when a voice intruded.

  “You’re the new owner of The Lodge, aren’t you? You’ve been doing a lot of work to the property. What made you move to Greene Valley?”

  Cassie stiffened, and Shaun sighed against her lips before lifting his head from hers to find the person who had spoken. Feeling her move beside him, he rested his hand on top of hers, silently asking her not to pull away, while he answered the question.

  “My family and I were looking for somewhere away from city life to relocate.”

  “I thought we agreed you were going to stay away from my girlfriend.” Sam’s voice rang out over the crowd.

  Shaun acknowledged to himself that he should have expected people to have questions about their purchase of The Lodge, and he really should have known that Sam would take the opportunity to play the victim. What did surprise him, though, was the sharp disappointment he felt when Cassie slid away from him and stood up.

  I should never have agreed to come to this, he thought. It was never going to end well.

  Movement at his side caught his attention and he glanced up to find Cassie rubbing her bottom lip with the tip of a finger. His eyes followed the movement. Now he knew what she tasted like, he wanted to replace her finger with his mouth again. She stared back at him, eyes full of hurt and anger, as she processed what Sam had said and the scent of her confusion swirled around him.

  The crowd gathered around him and started questioning Sam about his relationship status with Cassie. He couldn’t tell exactly what she was thinking, but her scent informed him of the anxiety building inside her as Sam talked about how Shaun had put all his attention on Cassie after she had argued with Sam. Of how she had misunderstood a situation and wouldn’t let Sam explain, instead turning to the newcomer in town for support and letting him sway her away from Sam, who everyone knew loved Cassie and would never hurt her.

  Shaun said nothing, sitting still on the piano’s bench, his fingers idly tapping out a tune. To anyone watching, he appeared to be focused on the piano, but he was hyper-aware of every move Cassie made beside him.

  When Sam claimed Shaun was only interested in her because she was easily manipulated, her anxiety spiked, tumbled into a mess of conflicting emotions and he tipped his head back to look at her, knowing she had reached breaking point.

  “Is it true?” she asked

  Shaun squashed the feeling of regret and anger that surged at the mistrust in her voice. “Which part?” he asked.

  “What Sam said.”

  He continued picking out a tune, debating on the best way to answer.

  “Shaun?” her voice pulled his eyes back to her again, and the scent of her self-doubt assailed him.

  “Well,” he began, his voice a slow drawl. “I’m definitely Shaun Jacobs and my name is one of three listed on the deeds for The Lodge. My family is relocating to Greene Valley, and yeah, there have been a lot of renovations made to the property.”

  Cassie bit her bottom lip, her gaze shifting from Shaun to Sam and back again, and the image of sinking his own teeth into it blazed into his mind.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He stopped playing and arched a brow, fighting against the way her scent roused his wolf’s desire to claim her, to show the world she belonged to him, to fix what Sam had broken.

  “Tell you what?” he asked, unable to keep the growl from his voice. “What do you want to hear, Cassie? You broke into my home, remember. I don’t recall informing you of our plans for the property as being part of the sale,” he purposely misunderstood her question.

  “Not about that.” Her eyes were wide, and the scent of her hurt battered at him.

  “Did you want me to tell you I saw Sam earlier? I must have mislaid the memo telling me I had to keep you updated of conversations I’ve had.” He couldn’t do this, couldn’t draw her into the life he lived, had to stop things before they went any further. His wolf growled its disagreement.

  “Is that why you kissed me? To make him jealous?” Her fingers toyed with her lip again, and Shaun sprang to his feet before he lost control, lost the battle with his wolf, and dragged her back into his arms. “Were you trying to make some kind of point to Sam?”

  “No, Goldilocks,” he replied, his voice harsh from the internal battle he was waging. “I kissed you because I’m the big bad wolf and you needed a warning to stay out of my forest.” He pushed past her and stalked toward the door, desp
erate to get away before he completely lost control, but her voice stopped him once again.

  “Goldilocks was in the Three Bears. The big bad wolf was in Red Riding Hood.”

  And just like that, his wolf calmed, eased its demands and huffed with delight at her lack of fear and her sarcastic retort. Shaun swung back to face her, unsure whether to laugh or say something further to ensure she stayed away from him. The expression on her face, the hurt still lingering in her eyes, drove him to silence and he turned back to leave.

  “I might buy a red cloak for the next time I feel like walking through your forest.” Her final words followed him as he strode out of the door.

  Cassie caught herself just as she reached up to touch her lip again. She could still taste him there – a dark, decadent flavour which lingered. He’d kissed her, and there had been a connection there, something Cassie couldn’t explain, but she needed to know if he felt it too. Whether the words that had spilled from him had been the truth or a method of deflection from the curious eyes surrounding them. There had been a sense of rightness in his arms, a feeling of belonging, something she’d never felt before.

  “Cassie, are you alright?” Her sister’s voice brought her head around and she blinked, refocusing on the bar and the people slowly wandering back to their tables now the drama had ended. “You know Sam was just trying to make sure the blame for your breakup didn’t land on him, don’t you?”

  Strangely, Cassie didn’t care about that. All she wanted to do was demand answers from Shaun.

  “I need to talk to him,” she whispered, and pushed past Gemma to follow the path Shaun had taken. She made it outside just as his taillights disappeared into the distance.

  “Didn’t take you long to find someone new. Did he fall for your innocent act, too?”

  She stiffened at the voice behind her and slowly turned to find Sam had followed her out, arms folded across his chest and a bottle of beer in one hand.

  Cassie gaped at him. “Seriously?”

  “Are you going to claim you’re not fucking him? I saw how far down your throat his tongue was.”

  “Not as deep as your dick was inside Rebekah,” she snapped in return, her own anger spiking. “And, not that it’s any of your business, but he kissed me.”

  Sam’s smile was ugly. “Yeah, and you know why he did that, don’t you? It wasn’t about you, Cassie, it was about me and wanting to challenge me because I asked him to back off and let us sort our relationship out.”

  “We don’t need to sort anything out. It’s over, Sam. Leave me alone. I don’t even want to talk to you.” She walked past him, intending to return to the bar.

  “You’re fucking oblivious, you know that? You’re so wrapped up in your own problems, your art, that you don’t see anything unless it’s presented to you in big letters. So here it is. I was seeing Rebekah before we got together. You were the affair, not her. She knew all about you though. And I mean everything. She liked hearing about the things we did together.”

  Cassie froze and slowly turned to face him. “What?” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” he unfolded his arms and lifted the bottle to his lips to take a drink. “Beks and I have had an open relationship for years. You’re the only person who has no fucking clue. We fuck other people. She gets a kick out of hearing about the women I take to my bed, about the things I make them do. She really got off when I talked about you. God knows why, you’re so fucking vanilla.” He smirked. “She’d stand outside the door and video herself masturbating while I fucked you.”

  “You’re lying.” Cassie took a step away, the colour draining from her cheeks. “Rebekah wouldn’t do that.”

  “You mean like she wouldn’t fuck me on your kitchen table? You’re not that naïve, Cassie. Rebekah will do anything I ask her to do.” She watched as he raised the bottle to his lips again.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Why would I lie? You’ve set your sights on the bad boy newcomer, so it’s not like you’re coming back to me, is it?” he drained his beer and threw the bottle to one side. “He’ll use you and then chuck you to one side once you give him what he wants.” The look he raked over her was derisive, and her stomach churned. “Let’s hope he doesn’t have to make shit up about your sex life to make it sounds better than it is when he talks about it. And you know he will. Especially when he finds out how disappointing you are in bed.”

  Cassie stumbled backwards, her back hitting the door. She’d known Sam had a cruel streak, a sharp tongue, but she had never been its target … had she? Wasn’t that a lie though? How many times had his words cut her, forced her to adjust her thinking, the way she behaved? How many times had she second-guessed her every thought?

  She could feel his eyes on her as she stiffened her spine and forced herself to glare at him.

  “You’re just trying to make excuses for your behaviour,” she told him. “I caught you messing around behind my back and now you’re trying to make it look like it’s my fault.”

  “Newsflash, Cassie. It is your fault.”

  She pushed herself away from the door and fled across the parking lot toward Gemma’s house.

  Her mind replayed Sam’s words over and over in her head and, without even thinking about it, she pulled her car keys out of her purse, opened the car door and slid inside.

  The need to shift was so strong that by the time Shaun got back to his home, he could feel his wolf clawing at his skin. Throwing open the car door, he toed off his shoes, yanked off his t-shirt and jeans and threw them on the porch. By the time they landed, he had shifted, and a large dark-brown wolf stood in his place.

  Raising his nose to the wind, he took a deep breath and set off at a dead run into the woods. His mind replayed the events of the evening as he ran, trying to figure out what exactly had triggered the need to shift, and Cassie’s face appeared before him. The look of betrayal in her eyes when Sam had claimed he had agreed to stay away from her. That had been the trigger, he was sure of it. The question was why? Why was it so important to his wolf that she didn’t believe Sam? His lips peeled back from his teeth and he snarled. His wolf didn’t like the thought of Sam being anywhere near Cassie, of touching her. Why?

  Mine, was the growl that reverberated around his head. She belongs to us.

  A faint sound reached his ears and he skidded to a stop, head twisting around to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. A car’s engine. He tilted his head, gauging the speed and distance and then launched himself forward, racing back to reach his house before the vehicle did. He recognised the sound, knew it was Cassie’s car. Now he was a little calmer, he acknowledged that he should have expected her to follow him, to demand answers about why he’d kissed her at the bar, about why he’d retreated the way he had. He wished she hadn’t because he wasn’t ready or able to give her the answers she wanted. How could he explain that his wolf-half had decided she was their perfect mate?

  The Lodge came into view and he threw himself toward it, willing himself to change forms. Wolf turned to man in the time it took his heart to take one beat and he grabbed the clothing he’d left on the deck, pulling on the jeans as he ran inside and hit the button to open the gates.

  By the time the car came into view, he was leaning against the door-frame, like he'd been there the entire time. Arms folded across his chest, he watched as she parked, hopped out and began the walk toward him.

  “Was it bad?”

  Shaun frowned. Okay, so that wasn’t quite what he’d been expecting as her opening volley. “Was what bad?”

  “The kiss. You kissing me … was it bad?”

  Shaun’s head canted to the side, trying to get a handle on her scent, but it was shifting too rapidly for him to pick out her primary emotion. He wasn’t sure how she expected him to answer her question.

  “No?”

  Her face fell at his response and he cursed himself. Clearly, not the answer she wanted.

  “As quick, unplanned kisses go, it was fine,” he
tried again, curious why that had been the first question she decided to ask. “Did you drive all the way here just to ask me that?”

  “Yes … no … I don’t know. He said …” she sucked in a shaky breath, clearly trying to keep some emotion at bay.

  “He said? Who?” Shaun leapt on her comment, pushed himself away from the wooden frame and padded down the steps to meet her. “Who said what?” Now he was closer, her agitation and anxiety was clear in both her scent and her face. He hooked a finger beneath her chin and tipped her face up, so he could see her eyes. “Talk to me, Goldilocks.”

  “Sam said … him and Rebekah,” she swallowed. “They talked about sex. He said he had to lie.” A faint blush stained her cheeks and her eyes darted away from him.

  “Lie about what?” Shaun tried to sift through her scent, trying to make sense of her words. There was an almost overwhelming sense of shame, so strong it rocked him backwards. “Cassie, lie about what?”

  Cassie shook her head, and he dropped his hand away from her face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “What are you here to talk about then?”

  “You kissed me.” It was almost an accusation.

  “I know,” Shaun replied, cautiously. “I was there.”

  Her tongue came out, swiped across her lips and Shaun’s focus immediately centred on the action.

  “I need you to do it again.” Her voice was a husky whisper.

  His eyes snapped back up to hers, and she shifted away, refusing to look at him. “I’m sorry … what?” He was sure he’d misheard what she’d just said.

  “Kiss me again. I wasn’t ready last time. I’ll do better.”

  Shaun studied the woman in front of him, then glanced around wondering whether people with cameras were hiding in the trees. He knew they weren’t, he’d be able to smell them but still … Surely that could be the only reason Cassie was standing in front of him sounding like she was asking to retake an exam.