True. He had. And she’d thought he was a crazy old man.
Jake still refused to look at her. He wiggled his toes and pursed his lips, his brows drawing together in an agonized expression.
It broke her heart to see him looking so vulnerable, so worried. She realized then that it very much mattered to him what she thought. No one had cared about her thoughts before. In Boston, she was practically invisible. But a few short days in Everlasting and she felt as if she had people and wasn’t alone in the world any longer.
She wasn’t exactly versed in how to deal with many social interactions, let alone how one was to handle the information that supernaturals were a very real thing. Standing on the porch, glaring at Petey and Jake probably wasn’t the best approach. It would solve nothing.
Kelsey squared her shoulders, weary resignation coursing through her as she surprised herself by walking down the steps and directly to Jake. The burning need to make contact with him was great. She gave into the unnatural pull she felt to the man. Half-horse be damned. She put a hand to his t-shirt-covered chest and looked up at his face. “I didn’t imagine it, did I?”
“No,” he said, closing his eyes, looking saddened as stress lines formed on his brow.
Her other hand went to his cheek. She wanted to chase his worry away, but first, she needed answers. She needed the truth. “W-what are you?”
He put a hand over hers, holding it against his cheek, his dark gaze finding Kelsey’s. “Centaur.”
She couldn’t stop the tiny gasp of surprise that came from her. Centaurs were real? If they were real, what else was real?
He winced, and for some reason that pained her, knowing he was upset, and that her shock had caused him grief.
She licked her lower lip in an attempt to remain perfectly calm despite truly having her world rocked. “Like from mythology?”
“Pretty much,” he said trying without success to pull away from her.
She simply moved with him.
He sighed. “Though we’re not all as vicious and horrible as some of the stories claim. Some of us are decent enough.”
Petey grunted. “You’re good people, Jake. Don’t go lumping yourself in with the bad ones. There’s bad in everything—human and non-human. Don’t mean you gotta wear that shame. I don’t associate with my first pack. They’re not good people. Don’t mean we’re all bad though.”
Pack?
“She’s scared of me,” Jake said to Petey, his hand still holding hers to his cheek.
Petey offered a warm grin. “Funny, she looks worried about you. Not the least bit afraid, but maybe my eyesight is going too, along with everything else.”
Jake glanced tentatively at her, an eyebrow arching as if confused by what he found. “You’re not scared of me?”
“Surprised by the horse thing, but not scared,” she confessed. And she meant every word of it. She didn’t fear Jake. If anything, she was inexplicably drawn to him. By rights, she should have been totally and completely freaked out, but all she wanted to do was ask him to hold on to her and never let go. Her feelings for him were intense and they scared her. The fact he could turn into a centaur didn’t. “I’ll admit I’m kind of baffled and overwhelmed, especially when it comes to my feelings for you.”
He touched her chin and nodded. “That’s understandable. You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a short period of time.”
Petey leaned in their direction and put his thumbs under his suspenders. “Bad time to tell you I change into a wolf, or did I mention that to you already?”
Kelsey couldn’t help but laugh at the man. “No. You didn’t tell me about that. But that does explain the pack comment.”
He rubbed his wiry chin. “Hmm, should have started with that, I guess. Now that that is all out of the way, what do you say we get the wood-burning stove operational for you? Bet Jake could stand to warm up. He was running around in nothing but what he was born in a few minutes ago.”
Jake kept hold of her chin lightly, staring down at her with nothing short of desire rolling off him.
Kelsey couldn’t stop herself as she went to her tiptoes, her lips finding his. The kiss went from chaste to heated in seconds. The next thing she knew, Jake’s hands were buried in her hair, his tongue dancing artfully around hers.
Petey cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “I’m still standing here. Save the mating until I’m gone. There are certain things I can’t unsee, and so far tonight, I’ve seen plenty of Jake.”
Kelsey smiled against Jake’s lips. “Do I want to know what he’s talking about?”
Jake blushed. “No.”
“But it involves you in nothing more than what you were born in?” she asked, a devilish smile coating her face. That was something she’d like to see.
He took her hands in his. “Are you okay? Wilber and I dug up a bit more on the pendant. What we found has me concerned.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the open door to the cabin. “It’s inside. I’m almost afraid to ask what you found. Does it involve Dracula coming to end me?”
Petey whistled low and through his teeth. “Man, I haven’t seen Dracula around Everlasting in ages. Been at least ninety years. Maybe more. Wonder how he’s been? I should look him up. He was always good for a game of cards. Always trying to cheat at the game though so you gotta keep your eye on him.”
She clutched Jake’s shirt at the thought of Dracula being real. “He’s kidding, right?”
Jake offered a sheepish grin. “I’m not sure.”
Kelsey shook her head. “I got a one-way ticket to funky town all right.”
“Been there, doesn’t live up to the hype,” said Petey in a cavalier manner.
Kelsey stepped closer to Jake as she thought more on the various stories Petey had entertained her with during his visits. “Petey, you mentioned a kraken to me before. Is that real too?”
“Yes,” answered Jake, surprising her.
“Whoa. Twilight Zone moment going on here.” Every weird and wacky thing Petey had told her stories of was real? She wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or running for the hills.
Jake took her hand again in his. “Petey, what do you say I handle things here? I’m planning to have Kelsey pack her things up and come stay at my place. I’ve got extra rooms and it puts her closer to town and to all of us, should something happen with the Babcocks.”
“Gah! The Babcocks are the evil witches after her?” Petey’s jaw set. “Those witches smelled horrible and they had the worst manners. I mean, who eats their dinner guests? They did! That is just rude. Folks say people just went missing, but I say they had ’em for dinner. If they’re out for Kelsey, it’s for the best she be with you, especially with you being her mate and all.”
“Mate?” Kelsey asked, unsure what Petey was talking about.
Jake stiffened. “Petey, I was going to bring that up to her gently.”
“As gently as you dropped being a centaur in her lap?” asked Petey, leaning against his truck casually. “Maybe you could just dump a ton of bricks on her next. Save time.”
Jake growled. “Petey.”
Petey smiled wide. “I’m going. You okay to go with him, Kelsey? Or do you want me to take you to town?”
“I’m fine with Jake—and I’ll also be fine out here. I don’t need to go anywhere else,” she said, not wanting to be a burden. She wasn’t used to people making a fuss over her. No one had ever bothered to be concerned about her in Boston. It was new and foreign to her to have so many people actually care about her.
Jake eyed her. “Either come with me, or I’ll call Wilber and tell him you’re staying in his hunting cabin. That is dangerous enough on its own, without the threat of bad witches running around. Did you know this place is rigged with different death traps?”
“He doesn’t know I’m staying here?” asked Kelsey, whipping around to face Petey fully.
Petey whistled again. “On that note, I should be going and leave you two lovebirds. Don
’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Coward,” called Jake as Petey hurried to his truck and backed down the lane.
Once he was gone, she was left standing there with the headlights from Jake’s SUV illumining the area. He touched her cheek once more.
“This is a lot to take in,” he said tenderly. “You can ask me anything you want to ask me. I’ll do my best to answer.”
“What’s a mate?”
He took her hand in his and started for the porch steps. “We can talk more inside. I don’t like having you out in the open like this.”
EIGHTEEN
KELSEY ALLOWED Jake to lead her into the cabin. Once inside, he shut the door (as best he could), giving the chair near it a second look. He stiffened. “I really hate this place. I can’t believe Petey has you staying out here.”
“Once I got past all the cobwebs, the fact I have to use an outhouse, and the serial-killer vibe, I actually started to find the cabin quaint and cozy,” confessed Kelsey, her hand still in Jake’s.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles one by one gently, his smoldering gaze never wavering from her. When he was done, she felt like she was about to melt into a puddle of girlie hormones right where she stood.
He closed his eyes a moment and tipped his head back, the muscles in his neck straining. “I’m so incredibly thankful that you’re all right. I was worried those witches had you or that you were dead.”
When she realized she now had someone who would notice if she went missing, a tightness stole across her chest and she teared up.
Jake looked at her and gasped, releasing her hand and stepping back. “This is too much for you. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to explain being mates to you, other than to say you’re the other half of what makes me whole. That a higher power had a hand in it all, making sure we were meant for one another. I didn’t mean to spring this all on you at once. I wish I could have taken my time. You shouldn’t have had to learned what I am the way you did. I’m sorry. I just…well, I was worried and couldn’t think of anything but your safety. I had to know you were okay. I had to find you.”
A single tear fell down her cheek at how touching his words were. She really had found her people. Her hunger to be a part of something greater was now satisfied.
“I’ll get you back to town and call Penelope and Hugh. You can stay with them since its clear I’m upsetting you,” said Jake, his jaw setting. “I don’t mean to come on this strong. I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve waited for you for five hundred years. I actually gave up hope you even existed. To find out you’re real, and you’re in danger, was too much for me. I swear I’m not normally this in-your-face. I can back off. I can stay on the sidelines while you get used to everything that has been thrown at you.”
It took Kelsey a second to realize he thought her tears meant she was rejecting him. They meant the total opposite. She was accepting him into her heart. “Jake, this is all very sudden.”
“I know, it’s too much for you,” he said, stepping back more. “Let’s gather your things and get you somewhere safe. Then I’ll stay away—or at least try to stay away. My shifter side has issues being separated from you for any length of time. Truth is, I kind of do too, but I promise not to bother you.”
“Jake, stop talking and let me finish what I was saying,” she said, covering the distance between them. She touched his shoulder. “This is super sudden, but it feels right. Like I’ve been waiting for you all my life too. I can’t really explain it, but I trust you fully, and I don’t really want to be separated from you either. If that’s what being mates means then I get it.”
He exhaled loudly and then jerked her against his powerful frame. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Oh, thank the gods. I wasn’t sure I could honor that promise I made to stay away. I lost control of my shifter side and nearly wrecked my SUV already tonight, failing to keep my cool when it comes to you.”
“What? You could have been hurt,” she scolded before pausing and thinking back to his previous words. “Hold on. What do you mean you’ve waited five hundred years for me?”
Pink splashed over his tanned cheeks. “I might be older than I look.”
“Yeah, like four hundred and seventy years older!” She gasped. “How old is Petey? A trillion?”
“Actually, he’s younger than me. Shifters age slower than humans, but I don’t age at all. Once a centaur reaches his or her age of maturity, we level off and look that way forever.”
She drew back from him slightly, concern racing over her. “I’ll age. You’ll be the same for good, but I’ll change and—”
Jake smiled faintly. “No, baby, you won’t. Once we mate fully, you become an extension of me, and me of you. You’ll get my longevity and I’ll get your magic. It’s how nature handles supernaturals. At least when a centaur mates. I’m not sure how much, if any, sharing of traits happens between other kinds. I never really stopped to ask anyone about it.”
Kelsey walked over to the chair she’d used to wedge the door closed and sat on it. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts and absorb what she was being told. “What do you mean by my magic? I don’t have any magic. I’m just ordinary. I’m human.”
Jake approached but didn’t touch her. He bent, going to one knee in front of her. “No, baby. You’re not human. Wilber and Petey knew that instantly. I didn’t. I was too swept up in you to stop and notice anything else.”
She thought about how he’d nearly taken out the gumball machine and couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Reaching up, he pushed stray strands of her hair back from her face. “I love seeing you smile. I can’t wait to learn everything that makes you happy…that makes you gift me more of these.” He touched her lips. “I want to make you smile for the rest of our lives. If you’ll have me.”
She was glad she was already sitting or she might have fallen, she was so taken by his words. “Is this normal? The pull we have to each other?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s how Mother Nature makes sure we alphas settle down.”
She tousled his hair. “And makes sure wallflowers like me find someone special.”
“Wallflower?” he asked, as Artemis appeared from the kitchen area and headed right for Jake.
The cat left Jake no choice but to pet her. She rolled onto her back, letting him rub her tummy as she lapped up the attention. He chuckled. “You must be Artemis. You’re something of a legend around town.”
The cat purred and licked his fingers, looking to be in heaven. She got to her feet and then went over near the wood-burning stove and lay on the floor, looking right at the stove.
Jake smiled as he stood. “Someone is cold. Let’s get you packed up and then we’ll all head to my place. Artemis can have free run of the house there.”
“Can we take a little bit to just…I don’t know…absorb everything that has happened today?” Kelsey asked, feeling overwhelmed. It was true that a lot had been thrown at her.
Jake grabbed a few pieces of wood that were near the stove and put them in. He then glanced at Kelsey. “Matches?”
“In the kitchen,” she said, wringing her hands as she thought about all that she’d learned in one day.
Supernaturals were real and some wanted to harm her, though she wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t done anything to them. She didn’t even know who they were. And if she was to believe Jake, she was more than human. It was certainly a lot to process.
Jake returned from the kitchen with matches and a bit of old newspaper. He stuffed it into the stove and lit it. The cat seemed satisfied as she curled up into a ball once more, near the stove, as if she’d done so hundreds of times before.
Kelsey continued to fidget as she did her best to come to terms with a day that seemed to define strange. A snort broke free and she put the back of her hand to her mouth.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Jake as he leaned against the wall near the kitchen.
“I just realized the
crystal balls in the basement of Wil’s shop aren’t toys or computer-generated gadgets. They’re real. When they showed me a centaur, I didn’t get what it meant.”
He pushed off the wall and approached, his bare feet padding across the wood floor. “Showed you a centaur?”
Nodding, she glanced up at him. “Wil had me ask one of the crystal balls a question. I asked why I was in Everlasting. An image of a centaur—of you—filled it. But it didn’t show me your face. Just your body.” Standing, she chuckled again. “I really didn’t get why it would show me that. Makes sense now. I came here for you.”
“Nature has a way of bringing mates together,” offered Jake, stepping back from her as if he wanted to give her all the space she needed to think.
“You sound like Wil and Mr. Reyes,” she said, pacing the cabin living room area. “They told me Everlasting basically calls to those who need it most.”
“Are you happy you came?”
Her gaze collided with his. If she would have ignored all the signs for Everlasting, she wouldn’t have met Jake. That bothered her greatly. The idea of not having him in her life ripped her gut. Emotions lodged in her throat and Kelsey found herself unable to verbalize her feelings on the matter.
Jake was with her in a flash, drawing her against him as if he too felt the insane pull. The demand for contact to occur. When she looked up at him, he dipped his head, his lips capturing hers. The next thing Kelsey knew, they were walking backward in the direction of the bedroom, yanking at one another’s clothing.
Artemis pushed by Kelsey’s feet and tried to head into the bedroom too. Kelsey broke the kiss and looked down at the cat. “This doesn’t include you.”
Jake grinned as he gently lifted the cat and walked her over near the wood-burning stove. He grabbed a cushion from a beat-up chair and put it on the floor. He set Artemis on it. “Here you go, girl. Nice warm spot for you.”
The cat purred and settled in on the cushion.
As Jake stood, his dark gaze found Kelsey and she knew what was about to happen. She was going to get her brave on in a big way. She put her hand up and motioned for Jake to follow her as she entered the bedroom. He wasted no time as he ran in behind her, closing the door and laughing.
Total Eclipse of The Hunt: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (The Happily Everlasting Series Book 5) Page 13