Strangely Familiar

by Cari Z.

  "That's good."

  Brigit touched her cheek. “You'll be okay, Cess.” Then she picked up her bag and left.

  Cecily reached out with her good hand and lightly scratched the top of Mauricio's head. “I wish you'd talk to me.” She was tired, and went back to her bed for a nap.

  By the time she woke up the sun was gone from the sky, and Mauricio was lying beside her, in his human form this time. His eyes were closed but she could feel that he wasn't asleep. “Welcome back."

  He opened his eyes. “You healed faster when I was in my jaguar form. I thought it best to keep it as long as it helped you."

  "Are you okay?"

  He smiled mirthlessly. “Weres of all types heal fast. There was nothing wrong with me.” He closed his eyes. “One moment I was flying, striking, falling. One moment I knew I would soon be dead. The next I was on a sidewalk with a dizzy head wondering how I got there, and where you were. I caught your scent and ran to you, but I knew I would be too late. I felt your breath stop..."

  "Did yours stop, too?” Cecily asked in alarm.

  Mauricio opened his eyes again, and they were bright with unshed tears. “No. That was the worst part, breathing and knowing that you weren't, that you couldn't. I felt you dying."

  She was anxious to comfort him. “But you saved me."

  "Healers saved you. My stubbornness nearly got you killed. You should have saved your magic for yourself, not wasted it on a creature that doesn't deserve you.” He reached out and gently touched her face. “Werejaguars don't have packs, but they do take mates. My mate was killed years ago, and I had been a jaguar ever since her loss. You turned me back into a man, and I wanted to hate you for it. Witchcraft ... it has a bad reputation in Brazil ... dark forms, methods of control. Bindings of any sort, they hurt, they chafed. I treated you badly."

  "Mauricio..."

  "No longer, I swear it. Whatever you need from me, I will give you. Whatever you want, I will do.” He took her good hand and kissed her fingertips, then got up. “I'll make coffee."

  "Mmm, coffee for dinner."

  "Coffee and food. Your mother and sisters left soups, pastas, other things. I'll bring you some."

  "Thank you."

  He brought her dinner in bed. Cecily still wasn't strong enough to stay upright for very long, so she took advantage of being spoiled a little. She let him feed her spoonfuls of her mother's white bean and tofu stew, which Mauricio snorted at, and drank strong, sweet coffee and talked with him late into the night. They spoke about his childhood in Brazil, when he learned he was a were, how he met his mate. Cecily told him a little about her own childhood, but nothing very revealing. “You know my family, you know how things have been. I'd still be a child if you hadn't come into my life."

  "Treated like a child, perhaps.” His eyes looked her slowly up and down, and she felt herself flush a little under his scrutiny. “But you're certainly not a child. Você é uma mulher linda.” He sat up next to her on the bed, slid one gentle arm around her waist and brought the other to her hair, stroking her shining curls. “Estou apaixonado."

  "You never told me what that means,” she protested softly, looking into his eyes.

  "I don't need to,” he replied. Leaning in, he quickly captured her mouth with his, plundering her with sharp, desperate kisses even as the rest of his touch remained soft and gentle. His mouth was demanding in one moment, pleading in the next. Cecily wanted to melt onto her back and pull him down with her, but the pain in her chest pulled her up short before she had moved more than a few inches.

  "Patience, mm?” Mauricio said with a grin as he finally pulled away from her mouth. “We have time now. But I'm staying in here with you."

  "Yes,” Cecily agreed fervently. “Yes, you are."

  Their lives folded together so easily, fast becoming a perfect fit. He fixed her door and its battered frame but kept working on the table, doing something to it that she wasn't allowed to see. He slept in her bed at night, close but not quite touching, hovering protectively next to her steadily-recovering body. He was huge, he was strange, and it should have felt completely awkward to have him in bed with her, but it didn't. It felt right, and she slept better than she could ever remember with him beside her. They fell asleep apart, but by morning he was always touching some part of her, just enough to let her know that he wanted, he needed some sort of contact with her. He made the coffee, teased her when she started making breakfasts again, and went jaguar whenever she really ached, to help her dull the pain.

  Cecily, in turn, finally rounded a corner. It was several weeks later and she was nearly healed, only needing a soft cast for her right wrist. Her mother was visiting and they sat together in the living room. Mauricio had just finished with the table, covered it up and was taking a shower.

  "Honestly, Cess, I don't understand why you won't let me pursue this!” Brenda exclaimed. “I know it's possible, it's been done before. You've got just cause, Goddess knows, this creature has disrupted your life and nearly gotten you killed! We can find a way to get you a new familiar if you'll just let him go."

  "Mom, there's no way."

  "Cess, I just told you—"

  "No.” Cecily shook her head. “There's no way I'm going to give Mauricio up. Stop searching, Mom, stop trying to find something else for me. There isn't anything else I want, I have everything I need right here."

  "Cess.” Her mother shook her head. “You're young. You're inexperienced in the ways of the world. Yes, he's handsome, in a brutish sort of way, but there are many other men out there, and many other potential familiars. It's better not to mix love and magic. I can get you something better!"

  For the first time Cecily hardened her heart against her mother. “You're not listening to me. You never have, but that changes today. I am keeping Mauricio. I love him."

  "Cess..."

  "No, Mom. Please leave."

  "Cecily Anne Mason!"

  "Stop it, Brenda.” Two could play the name game. “I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm in love and I don't need you interfering. We'll work things out on our own. I don't need you to do everything for me anymore."

  Brenda Mason was genuinely shocked. Her youngest child had never taken this tone with her before. “Cess, honestly, I don't ... I don't know what to say."

  "Say that you love me. I love you. Then say goodbye. Bye, Mom."

  Her mother didn't say anything. She picked up her bag, stood up, and walked in a sort of stunned silence to the door. Casting one hurt glance back at her daughter, she left.

  Cecily felt a sort of dull ache watching her mother leave. It was hard, and she knew Brenda would be hurt for a while, maybe forever, but she'd had enough. She could survive without being coddled by her family, Mauricio had helped her see that. She loved them, but that didn't mean she had to live by what they thought was best for her.

  She sank back onto the couch, a little dazed, not quite sure what to think apart from knowing in her gut that she'd done the right thing. Soon after her mother left the shower stopped, and Mauricio joined her in the living room. As he sat down beside her and opened his arms, she moved willingly into his embrace. They hadn't consummated their relationship yet, whatever the hell it was turning into, but it was getting harder and harder to hold back.

  He was still damp, half naked, and smelled fresh and clean and male. Cecily buried her face against his collarbone and nuzzled the flesh there. “Hey."

  "Cecily, você me faz feliz."

  "I almost got that one,” she said with a grin. “Something about happy."

  "You make me happy.” He kissed her forehead, one hand stroking in slow swirls down her back. “You put me first, even before your family. You say that you love me, despite my many flaws."

  "You heard that conversation with my mom, I take it."

  "These ears, they hear things no matter how I tell them not to."

  "Yes they do, clearly one of your flaws. But you have many admirable qualities, too,” Cecily replied, arching towards him uncon
sciously.

  "True.” He smiled and shrugged. “To say otherwise would be a lie. But you give me much. Now let me give you something.” He moved away and towards the table, which was covered.

  "The coffee table?” Cecily laughed. “You already gave it to me."

  "Not that,” he replied imperturbably. “What's inside of it."

  "I finally get to see?"

  "Go on."

  Cecily moved off of the couch and knelt down beside the table. She slowly pulled the cover away, her eyes widening as she saw what Mauricio had carved into the top of it. It was a portrait of her, but this was not the girl who stared out of her bathroom mirror at her every morning. This was a goddess herself, a wild, brave beauty with rampant curls, secret eyes and a bright, wide smile. Her face radiated joy and life and hints of something dark and powerful lying just beneath the surface. She ran her fingers over the hair. The wooden strands almost clung to her fingertips. “This isn't me."

  "It's how I see you.” He got down behind her, his hands caressing from her shoulders to the small of her back in long strokes. “This is who you are, inside and out. Beautiful. Strong. My mate. Eu te amo, Cecily.” His breath was hot on the back of her neck, lips pressing kissed to her shoulders as his hands snuck beneath the fabric of her tank top and crossed over to her stomach. His intimate touches made her whole body quiver with a sudden need, and the ache between her thighs intensified.

  Cecily reached back and pulled him closer, so that his naked chest was pressed against her back. She felt his hardness and the sudden surge of need within her banished any remaining fears. “I want you, I want you so badly...” She ground her hips back against him, smiling when he moaned into her ear. “I want you now."

  His reply was a wordless growl and a sudden pressure on her back pushing her down towards the table. Cecily braced herself on her forearms, gasping when he pulled her pants over her ass and down to her knees in one fast motion. Apparently waiting had been just as hard for him as it had for her. Fingers crept up the inside of one creamy thigh, parting the thin fabric that covered her sex and slowly penetrating her body. Cecily groaned at the sudden welcome intrusion, so different from her own hand and right now, so much better. It still wasn't enough, though. She needed him, inside of her, now. “Mauricio..."

  He felt her desire through their bond, in her body, heard it in her voice. Everything in him responded and their needs blended together, becoming stronger and more passionate, hungrier and more desperate. He ripped her panties off, pulled his sweats down and thrust his hips up next to hers. He had patience for one final torment, rubbing the outside of her dripping pussy with his cock before absolute need took over and he began to work himself inside of her, sliding forward in one smooth, long thrust.

  Cecily tossed her head back, crying out with ecstasy. All it took was a single thrust and she was coming around him, sexual frustration releasing in one long, drawn-out orgasm. Mauricio held on to his own control, just barely, gritting his teeth and waiting for her tremors to subside before beginning to move inside of her. He held her hips steady and pulled out, just barely keeping the head inside before pressing back in. He made love to her, slow and smooth. He fucked her, fast and hard. He moved his long length inside of her until Cecily was ready to come again, leaning back into his thrusts, her hands gripping the edges of the table in an effort to keep her body steady.

  Mauricio held her hips tightly, feeling his own orgasm build to the point of no return and finally pushing in hard as he pulled her back against him, plunging deep and coming again and again and again inside of her, filling her with his hot, thick seed. Cecily felt his orgasm and let it cascade into her own, lengthening it and making her scream until she lost her breath, her voice and her sense of self to total pleasure, to utter bliss.

  She slumped forward onto the table, resting her face against her own carved cheek. Mauricio joined her after a moment, staying inside of her but leaning forward, until his heaving chest met her back, and he held her as they both recovered.

  "Eu te amo, Mauricio."

  She felt his smile curve his lips against her shoulder blade. “Eu te amo, Cecily. My love, my mate. My own goddess."

  "Your mate,” Cecily murmured happily. She flexed her internal muscles and he groaned again. “I like that part."

  "And we've just begun,” Mauricio said. “Let me show you.” He leaned her back against his chest, stroking up her stomach and across her breasts. He paused and pinched her nipples lightly, and Cecily's breath caught in her throat. He felt so good against her, all over her, inside of her ... when he sat back and pulled out she cried, “No!"

  "Soon, my love.” He picked her up into his arms and carried her back into her bedroom—their bedroom, now. He laid her on her back and was between her legs in a moment, thrusting back inside of her. He had incredible stamina, and he held her close, breathed her breaths, filling her body with life as they made love. She wrapped her legs around his back holding onto his shoulders living the dreams that had haunted her nights since before she met Mauricio. Now she knew what kind of future could exist for her. Her future, her love, her familiar was with her now, and strangely ... that was enough. That was more than enough. The most amazing thing was, it seemed to be enough for him to.

  "Eu te amo com todo meu coração,” he whispered in her ear as he took her, gave himself to her, plunged into her deeply again and again until they both lay still, tangled together, breathing hard and grinning. Cecily was happy, sated and in love. No one could see tomorrow, but right now ... right now was perfect.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  About the Author

  Strangely Familiar is Cari Z.'s first romance with Phaze Books.

  * * *

  Visit www.phaze.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.