by Brea Viragh
“And your family?” he pushed. “Christmas is today. If you want to make it home in time, you’re going to have to hustle. You might be able to catch a plane tonight.”
“I’ve never been one for hustling, to be honest.”
He scoffed. “You could have fooled me. You’ve been quick enough to try and escape me multiple times.” Sighing deeply, he stretched and drew her closer yet, felt their bodies click together, hers relaxed and warm. His hands crept to her hips, kneading.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she argued. “I think it’s much more comfortable to stay here. Terrance can shove the magazine up his ass.”
“What a change of heart you’ve had.” His hands slipped inside of her shirt to caress her chest.
Oooh, yes, the man had magic hands. There was no mistaking his talent. “Maybe I’ve realized there are more important things in life than killing myself for a person who doesn’t appreciate me. One who holds something I love over my head and uses it to threaten me. And maybe I’ve realized that caring is not a one-way street. My family will be fine. Trust me.”
He smelled good, fresh, his skin soft as satin. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to see you standing up for yourself.”
“I’ve had a little help. From a very interesting man I met.” She stretched like a cat, sinuous and sensual.
“Oh yeah? And who is this man?”
“Oh…just some guy.”
He blew a raspberry against her neck and flipped her over onto her back, straddling her. “Some guy? I happen to be your lifemate, missy! You are going to be stuck with me for eternity.”
“Eternity is too damn long.” Her eyes widened and she laughed at the look of outrage on his face. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
He dove forward on a growl and buried his face in her neck. “You are going to pay for your teasing, woman!” Then blinked when the sun cut through the clouds, blinding him. “Oh, man.”
“The sun!” Farris scrambled out of his hold and, naked, walked to the window. “Look at it, so beautiful.”
“It means our time here has come to an end,” he grumbled.
“No way, mister. Our time here is just beginning. This is a sign.” Smiling, she pointed. “This is a sign to start the rest of our lives. No more waiting.”
Lakota flipped over onto his back. “You know, I had a thought.”
“What kind of thought?” Her grin turned saucy and she swiveled around to face him. Her hips worked in seductive rhythm when she stalked toward the bed. “Naughty thoughts?”
“I think you should start to write.”
She stopped mid-stride, one eyebrow shooting toward the ceiling. “Write? I’m a photographer.”
“A damn good photographer. Wouldn’t it be fun to put your photos into a book? You went to school for journalism. Think of the stories you could write.”
There were many, she knew, and if she put her mind to it she would be good at it. Damn good. If there was one thing she had in abundance, it was imagination. She needed to find the right direction and then nothing could stand in her way. Maybe he had a point.
“We’ll deal with it later.” She jumped on the bed, jumped on him, and planted her lips on his. “Right now, we need to get to shoveling. Or maybe we can run to the vehicles.”
His eyes widened. “Run? You think you’re up for the challenge? You can’t beat me.”
With her legs on either side of his hips, she stretched her arms toward the ceiling. She felt like a goddess. She’d changed a little since going through with the conversion, Farris mused. Her skin was more radiant, her hair fuller and lusher. Her eyes were brighter and there was a gleam she could only guess came from newfound confidence. There was nothing sexier. The appreciation in Lakota’s gaze was worth the sacrifice.
“I want to see what my body can do,” she replied. “There are so many things I want to try.”
“And there’s time for it. How about this time we do it the human way?”
Her lips dropped to his again. “I love you, Mr. Linden. Through a week, and a life-changing transformation at the cellular level, and a real case of rabies, I love you. I’m glad I didn’t lose you.”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “You will never lose me. I can guarantee it.” Then he started. “You said it first! It’s hard to imagine.”
“I’m pretty sure you said it first and I’m repeating you.”
“Nope. I’ve felt it, and I’ve wanted to say it, but I was trying to wait for the right time.”
“You didn’t think it was the right time when I let you change me to save your life?”
“Apparently not.”
She shook her head. “You’re crazy. Come on. Let’s get this show on the road and get to town. I have a few phone calls to make.”
They made their way out of the cabin in record time. Her muscles flexed and warmed and it was an amazing feeling to push herself past her old limits. Physical activity which would have winded her in the past now barely caused a sweat. How exhilarating, and it made her wonder what else she could do. There were multiple scents on the wind, each with their own color. She felt the energy around her. How had she managed to exist in a tiny box and think it was okay, adequate?
She would never accept adequate again. Not when she had a love and a life to fight for.
Chapter 12
The Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort was the closest place with a working telephone. And, if Lakota were being honest, he wanted a chance to sit in the springs and let the heated, gushing water soothe his sore muscles, only a few of which came from his leg. The rest, well, the rest were due to Farris and her insatiable appetite.
He’d never thought he’d find a woman like her. Once they were outside, he’d told her to slow her breathing, visualize the lynx in her head. Trust him.
And it was the biggest gift of his life when she did. There was no hesitation on Farris’s part. Keeping complete faith in him, she reacted eagerly, and after a slightly uncomfortable moment and what he knew would be a strange period of disorientation, her physical body dissolved. In its place stood a female lynx with ear tufts reaching toward the sky. She bounded through the snow in a circle before face-planting. Yup, that was his Farris.
Lakota followed shortly after, his own large frame reshaping, compressing, shifting as he embraced the animal inside. And together they launched themselves into the day. He playfully chased her down the mountain, along hidden trails, through the forest and misty morning sun. They lunged past trees to test her mettle. Raced along crags of rocks until he jumped on her. Took her down with a growl.
After a time, they settled into a leisurely run, the male protecting his female. Farris was his joy. His heart. His reason for pushing through when he’d been on the verge of giving up hope. He intended to see that her future was filled with nothing but pure happiness.
They made it to his Jeep, changed form again, and he gave her the extra clothes he kept in the backseat for emergencies. The engine didn’t want to turn over. A few minutes of fiddling, a quick shovel around the tires while the truck warmed, and they were on their way to town.
The front desk clerk at the resort was a friend of his. He let Lakota borrow the phone, which he promptly handed to Farris.
“This is just easier than waiting for my cell to charge. Thank you,” she told the fellow before punching in the numbers. “You ready for this, Lakota?”
He offered her a smile filled with love and warmth. “I’ve never been readier.”
Her boss answered on the fourth ring. “You have a lot of explaining to do!”
Even had Lakota been across the room, he would have heard the booming voice on the other end of the line. Designed to intimidate.
Farris before the change would have winced. Responded with an apology, her shoulders hunching forward. He realized it a moment before she smiled. Her lips tugged wider and wider. “Do I, Terrance?” she responded.
“You’ve been out of communication for days! You’ve missed your deadli
ne and I’ve had people breathing down my neck for those shots. What the hell is taking you so long? I needed those photos days ago. You told me they were on their way and then you refuse to answer your phone. I am going to have your ass when you get back here.”
“That’s the thing, Terrance. I’m not coming back.”
“Excuse me? You don’t know what the hell you’re saying. You can’t speak to me like that.”
“Like what?” Lakota stepped forward and Farris reached out to grip his shoulder. “Tell you the truth instead of telling you what you want to hear? I’m kind of over having you threaten and sexually assault me.”
“Do you understand what this could do to your career? It sounds to me like you’re throwing away whatever chance you have to stay at this magazine. This magazine you helped create. How would you feel if it failed because of you?”
She groaned aloud, turning to face Lakota. There was concern on her face. Worry. Would she be able to stay strong? “I would feel free because the whole thing has been out of my hands despite what you say. I’m not going to take it anymore. You have no hold over me because I literally give no shits about you or your threats. Fire me or don’t, I still have my stocks in the company. I’ll sell them regardless and then you’ll have to deal with a stranger making decisions instead of someone you know. Either way, it won’t be someone you can manipulate.” She was on a roll and it felt good. Really, really good.
When Terrance sputtered for a response, she continued. “By the way, I took some amazing photos. Both before and after I was snowed in with a sexy mountain man. I mean, these are some seriously great shots. I think I’ll still put together a Christmas calendar, then donate the proceeds to a wildlife fund.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Anything I’ve done and haven’t turned in is still my intellectual property. I can do whatever I want with it, including the photographs. Tough luck, Terrance. Hopefully, the applicants you’ve always said were lined up for my job are ready to put in the work. Not half of them will be as good as I am, but what can you do? It’s a choice you’ve made and now it’s time to sleep in that bed. Goodbye, Terrance.” She hung up the phone and had the satisfaction of having spoken her mind. At long last.
Shivers coursed through her and she shook them off, her worry melting away into a smile.
“And how many years in the making was that impressive speech?” Lakota wanted to know.
“Too many,” she answered. “I’ve been afraid of making waves since long before he came into the picture. I can’t tell you how delicious it feels to have my voice again. It’s strange. I feel more myself now than I ever have, even though I’m not a me anymore. I’m a we. How can it be so freeing?”
“I wish I had the answer. I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. At least we know we have time to figure it out. Together.” He dragged her to him, aware of their audience and not caring in the least. His body was ready. Demanding her again. “Keep talking. I love it when you get romantic on me.”
She blinked, then leaned forward to nip him lightly on the chin. “Baby, you haven’t seen romantic. I have a few things planned for you. If you’re good.”
“Oh, I can be very, very good. But can we hold that thought until after we meet the parents? And which should we try first, yours or mine?”
She swallowed her laughter. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, the meeting of the families, but I’m more intrigued than ever to be a part of yours. You don’t think they’ll mind that I’m turned instead of naturally born, do you?”
He drew her into the shelter of his arms. “They are going to love you because you’re mine. And mates like you don’t come around often. Still, it is Christmas Day and I just realized I don’t have presents for anyone.”
“I’ve already gotten mine,” she insisted. She chuckled and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “I think I deserve at least a few more days in your bed before I get up to face the real world again. This has taken a lot out of me.”
“I’ll put it on our calendar.” Then he found her lips with his and held her there as she melted against him.
This was just the beginning, she knew, and the first time in her life she felt she’d taken a step in the right direction. A healthy step, she mentally clarified.
“You’re going to need to call your parents and sister to let them know you’re all right.”
“I’ll send them an email.” She enjoyed his embrace for a little while longer, muffling a yawn in his shirt. His thumb traced a path along her jaw line and she drew in a deep breath, never realizing how arousing the scent of wood shavings could be until she met Lakota. “Then we can have our private celebration here.”
“Here at the resort? I thought you said you didn’t have the money?”
“Between the two of us, I think we can spring for a real Christmas party. All alone, you and me, in a bathtub…” She purposely let her voice drop and when she looked up, she saw his eyes darken.
His arms tightened around her waist. “Go on with this thought. I want to hear more about this celebration you have brewing in your beautiful head.” He understood the desire in her tone. There was an answering emotion inside of him.
She turned back to him with a half-smile. “You have no idea how I feel about you. The depths of what I feel. It’s so raw and new.”
“I know you’re my mate, fashioned for me in every way. I know I’m a better man when I’m with you.”
“Now I’m the one liking the thoughts going on in your beautiful head.”
The words he’d had for her dried. Words came less easy than emotion. Lakota reached down and touched her face again, stroked her hair. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Yes, I do,” she struggled to say. “Because it’s important. I want to be able to express myself with you in a way I haven’t with anyone else. I’ve been running away from conflict, running away from myself, because I thought I wasn’t worthy. You gave me the confidence to take the most important step I’ve ever taken.”
“I think you mean I gave you a gift you can’t return.”
She took another step closer to him. “No, Lakota. You gave me the truth. You demanded it of me and you refused to take no for an answer, despite having to drag me kicking and screaming to where I needed to be. Now I hand it back to you freely given. I’m in love with you and I know, if we’d met under different circumstances, if we were two different people, I would still have fallen for you. I would have still been made for you because I’m perfect the way I am. And I am perfect for you.” On tiptoes, she reached to place a kiss on his chin. “I know we kind of rushed things, and maybe falling in love with you wouldn’t have been so quick or stressful, but I know it would have happened. I’m grateful.”
“Do you want to go for a run with me? On all four legs?”
She was chuckling at his reaction when his lips moved down to meet hers. “It’s Christmas Day.”
“I know.”
“We have to plan something with your family!”
“They’ll wait.” His hands were in her hair and his lips became urgent. Hard. Seeking an equal reaction.
Love, he thought dreamily. There was nothing like it in the world. His kiss drew moans of pleasure from her throat, which quickly turned into laughter once more when his hands moved from her waist to the buttons of her coat.
“Lakota, we’re going to need a room—”
“Trust me. I know. We’ll get there.” He pushed her hair away from her face to better see her. “Come on, sweetheart. Run with me. Be with me. It’s an exhilarating feeling.”
“Loving you is an exhilarating feeling,” she admitted.
“I love you more than anything else in this world. You were mine before I met you.”
Mine, he mused. They made it back to the Jeep in record time, shedding their clothing, bolting into the woods. The cold didn’t bother her as it once did. And with his help, when the magic took her, she finally felt like she belonged. She felt free.
> Epilogue
“You have to keep your balance on the board, otherwise you’re going to fall off!” Farris shook her head. “Somehow I thought you were going to be better at this.”
She was straddling a surfboard, watching her husband and lifemate try his hardest to stand up on his surfboard and catch a wave. It wasn’t going the way he’d planned. He thought he’d be a natural and fly across the sea to the shore on his first go. So far they’d had a private lesson, then tried to do it on his own and he hadn’t been able to stand yet.
He was a work in progress. But he was her work in progress. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
Lakota was on his stomach on the board, paddling back to her. “I swear I’m going to get this.” His face was determined and his arms cut through the water with ease.
“In this millenium?” she teased.
“I don’t want to hear your lip, woman.” He pointed at her. “We are going to stay out here until I get it right.”
“I better go back to shore for some more sunscreen, then.”
They were two days into their honeymoon in Hawaii. Lakota had wasted no time getting in the water. It was amazing to watch his face light up, to see the pure joy and interest for everything they did. It was a new world for him. A new world outside of his land of ice and snow. He’d never been to the ocean before, he’d admitted, and it pleased Farris more than she could admit to be the one to show him.
It was the first of many adventures. Life with him would never be boring.
After a few more hours of attempting to surf, they went back to their hotel room for another round of lovemaking. Four months had passed since she’d changed her shape, since she’d run on four legs and experienced the true freedom that came with being a lynx. It made her wonder how she’d survived so long without being her authentic self. It had taken a bought of rabies to prove she was alive, to prove she was finally where she was meant to be.