My Second Chance

by Shelley Munro

  “Should I lick it?”

  “Yeah.” Gavin’s eyes were a deep green, and they held heat and longing. Trust. He bared his neck, giving Charlie access.

  Charlie gulped, awed by Gavin’s easy acceptance of him. A rush of belonging and complicated emotions bombarding him.

  A mate.

  He’d thought he’d marry one day. This was bigger than anything he’d ever imagined. He lapped across the bite mark. Gavin’s groan vibrated inside his chest. He clasped Charlie tight, obviously enjoying his attentions. The faint flavor of blood faded, and when he lifted his head, he noticed the wound appeared less angry.

  “It’s healing,” he said in surprise.

  “Yeah. I didn’t realize how sensitive it would be, how much a mere touch would affect me. I didn’t know a human’s bite would drive me so hard.”

  A flash of humor shot through Charlie as they both regarded awakening erections. “Hand me that lube. It’s my turn this time.”

  Morning came all too soon. They shared a quick shower with only mild groping before they both dressed for work.

  “Will you come and stay tonight?” Gavin asked.

  Charlie tossed his damp towel aside and strode the two steps needed to reach Gavin. “Not being with you hadn’t occurred to me.” He dragged Gavin into his arms and kissed him, not roughly but slow and gentle, pouring every writhing emotion inside into his kiss. When he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

  “Damn, I wish I didn’t need to go to work,” Gavin said with a glance at his wristwatch.

  “I know the feeling. Do you have time for a coffee at the café?”

  “No, I have a patient arriving in half an hour and have to prepare the surgery.” Gavin glanced toward the surgery with a frown. His shoulders tensed beneath Charlie’s hands. “Fuck.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Gavin didn’t sound certain.

  Charlie heard the tap-tap of shoes and turned to the door. “Your patients come to your bedroom? Is there another door I should have locked last night?”

  “The one to the surgery waiting room,” Gavin muttered. “I forgot to check it. I had other things on my mind.”

  “Gavin, I thought I’d—” A feminine form skidded to a halt in the doorway.

  Leticia—the woman from last night. Today she wore tight jeans and a formfitting T-shirt in pale blue. She wore a cap on her head, her blonde hair poking through the back in a long ponytail. What little color she had in her face flooded away when she took in both Gavin and Charlie. They both wore trousers but neither had donned shirts and they stood way too close to try the casual friends ploy. The piquant scent of sex hung on the air and the rumpled bed gave more than a hint of how they’d spent their night.

  Leticia’s brown eyes swept over Charlie, coming to rest on the mark. His skin prickled as if she’d trailed her fingers over the spot, and he covered the raised site with his fingers.

  “You marked him?” The pain in her voice had Charlie wanting to comfort her. He noted it had the same effect on Gavin. Collectively they took a step toward her.

  Leticia slapped her hand over her mouth and backed up, her eyes wide with panic and betrayal.

  “Leticia, it’s not what it looks like,” Gavin said.

  “Oh yeah?” Bitterness filled her words. Her eyes swept over both of them, skimming their bare chests and the obvious marks on their shoulders. “He bit you too. You can’t—I thought we…oh hell.” Leticia turned and fled.

  Chapter Three

  It wasn’t fair. Pain lanced through Leticia as mortified color flooded her cheeks. She’d rejected Gavin’s advances time and time again, citing the FIV as her excuse, even though she’d known they could be mates.

  Could be. Should be.

  Her gaze slid to the raised mark on Charlie’s neck. Too late now.

  Escape. She needed to get out of here.

  After a last glance at the matching mark on Gavin’s neck, Leticia fled down the passage, each breath a hoarse fight for air. Gavin had mated with another. He was beyond her reach now.

  Beyond her reach.

  The words echoed inside her head in a cruel replay. Leticia ran outside, wrenched open the door of her car and climbed inside, slumping against the wheel. Tears smarted her eyes, and she bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

  Betrayal.

  Again.

  Her hands rose to grasp the steering wheel in a white-knuckle grip. Even though he’d wanted her, and she’d refused, not once but several times, the knowledge he’d mated with someone else was a kick in the gut. Unexpected. Painful. As if the disease wasn’t enough…

  Leticia fumbled with her car keys, trying to force them into the ignition. Her hands shook. Tears flooded her eyes and she couldn’t seem to manage the coordination to start her car. All she could think of was the loneliness. Gavin had mated with another and the bloody disease had come back.

  She would die alone.

  * * * * *

  Charlie grabbed his shirt and thrust his arms into the sleeves, buttoning it before looking at Gavin. “Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on? There is something between you and her. I sensed the ties between the two of you.” He shook his head, yet didn’t reject his certainty.

  Gavin hesitated, his expression torn as he glanced down the passage. “I intended to talk to you about Leticia. Look…I…hell! I can’t talk now.” Gavin hurried from the bedroom.

  Charlie scooped up his clean socks and followed, ending up in the kitchen. He prowled to the window and peered outside. “Damn, she’s outside, bawling her eyes out. What’s going on?” There was a connection between his mate and Leticia. Weird but true. He understood none of this magic shit, but he sensed—knew—there were ties between the two. “Have you marked her?”

  “No. No, of course not.” Gavin didn’t sound defensive or embarrassed. Just tired and pained.

  Charlie continued to stare at the woman because not only had he detected ties between her and Gavin, he’d experienced a forceful return of last night’s attraction. Yearning. That correlation kept him from communicating his anger and frustration. He kept recalling the pain on her pale face. She’d reminded him of a whipped puppy, cowering in pain. His stomach flipped in sympathy.

  “Leticia is my first patient this morning. I need to go to her.”

  A flash of jealousy flooded Charlie at the thought of Gavin touching her. His hand fisted at his side and he didn’t trust himself to speak, his mind battling with the contradiction of his thoughts. Shit, what kind of man was he? The woman was in obvious pain. He gave a clipped nod instead, beating back the surge of possessiveness.

  “Charlie, I truly meant to talk to you before Leticia arrived, to explain things.” Gavin swallowed and Charlie could see—sense—his distress. His heart softened, and he moved toward the other man, taking him into his arms and hugging him tight.

  “It’s okay.” Yet despite his reassurance to Gavin, worst-case scenarios filled his thoughts. Suspicions accompanied his churning stomach, and he wondered if he’d made a huge mistake by spending the night with the town vet.

  “We’ll talk tonight,” Gavin said. “I promise. Right now I need to see Leticia. She…she’s not well.”

  Charlie frowned, wanting to ask questions and remembering what Jonno and the twins had said about a virus. Gavin’s expression told him he wouldn’t get any answers, not now at any rate. Coming to a decision, he gave Gavin another quick kiss and stepped back. “Tonight. I should finish work around six, all going well. If I’m going to be late, I’ll ring you.”

  “Okay. If I get a call-out, I’ll phone you at the station,” he said.

  Charlie went back to the bedroom and grabbed his bag. He thrust the clothes he’d worn the previous night inside and after zipping it closed, headed for the front door. Gavin already crouched by the driver’s door, talking to Leticia. Charlie wanted to say hello but forced the instinct aside and walked over to his car. Driving away was one of the hardest
things he’d done since his sixth sense screamed at him to fix things. Bloody difficult when he didn’t understand what the problem involved.

  * * * * *

  Hell, what a bloody mess. Charlie wasn’t happy—Gavin could detect the waves of frustration and disapproval emanating from him as he drove away—and Leticia was weeping as if she’d lost her last friend in the world.

  Gavin opened the car door and knelt, reaching for her, drawing her into his arms and holding her while she buried her face against his chest and sobbed. The peak of her cap dug into his shoulder, and he jerked it off her head, barely restraining a gasp. Her hair…

  A tight sensation gripped his throat and no amount of swallowing removed it. No wonder she’d wanted to see him. It looked like the FIV had become more aggressive.

  Gavin dug deep for his doctor persona even though he wanted to scream at the unfairness of the disease. If it weren’t for the FIV, he and Leticia would be mates by now. He’d wanted to spend time with her, show his love to everyone. She’d refused, and he’d gone through the past few months off balance with a part of him missing. Leticia.

  “Leticia, let’s get you into the surgery.”

  She lifted her head at the husky note in his voice.

  “You don’t want me anymore. I’ve lost you.”

  The forlorn expression on her face almost did him in. “No. No, you haven’t lost me,” he stated. “Do Lucas and Saul know where you are?”

  “No. I haven’t told them.”

  Gavin nodded, guessing she meant the advancing disease rather than her location. He scooped her out of the driver’s seat and strode to his front door, shocked at how little she weighed. He’d seen her only last month for a checkup. The disease shouldn’t have progressed this fast.

  “Are you staying with Saber and Emily while you’re in Middlemarch?”

  Leticia nodded, still looking so vulnerable he wanted to hit something. Someone. It was a good thing Charlie had left. His emotions ran too close to the surface right now and it wouldn’t take much to set off his temper. “It was easier than doing the two-hour drive home to Alexandra after the party.”

  “I’ll ring and let them know you’re with me.”

  Leticia grabbed his shoulders, her sharp nails digging in cruelly. “You won’t tell them?”

  “I won’t tell them.” Gavin ignored the twinge of pain in his mark, disgusted by the shot of pleasure darting through his body when Leticia was in such a bad way. He set her on a chair in the surgery and crossed the gleaming white tiles to reach the phone. The number was on speed dial and connected almost straightaway. To his relief Saber answered. One fictitious breakfast excuse later, Gavin hung up and turned to Leticia.

  He owed her an explanation. He owed Charlie an explanation. Gavin sucked in a huge breath, acknowledging he’d made a right royal mess of the entire matter. In his defense, he hadn’t realized how powerful the mating urge would be. With Leticia his willpower hadn’t been tested since they’d never slept together, but with Charlie instinct had roared out of control. Hell, what a fuckin’ mess.

  “You and Charlie are mates.” Leticia’s brown eyes still glittered with tears.

  “Yes.” It was nothing less than the truth. They were mates. They didn’t know each other well but the sense of rightness—he couldn’t deny it. He’d wanted Charlie from the moment he’d first seen the other man.

  “I thought we were mates.”

  “Possible mates.” Gavin sighed. “You refused to have anything to do with me.” He turned away, unable to face the silent condemnation. He deserved this. Honesty would have worked… Now it was too late.

  “That’s true.” Leticia seemed to pick herself up. She stood and grabbed a tissue from the box he kept on his desk. After dabbing her eyes and throwing the used tissue in the bin, she turned to him. “I guess you’ve seen my hair. It’s started to fall out by the handful. I’ve lost weight. I’m not sleeping well.”

  Gavin’s heart sank at the list of symptoms. He’d read magazines and textbooks, spent hours searching the internet. In domestic cats, once they reached this stage, the result was inevitable.

  Death.

  “Have you done anything different?”

  “No.” She stopped and bit her lip. “Work is stressful, but I thought I was coping okay. I’ve tried to eat properly, get plenty of exercise. I go running with Saul and Lucas whenever I can. My energy levels are always better after shifting, although I’m not as fast as I used to be.”

  Gavin patted her hand, the contact of skin to skin jolting him. His hand jerked free, and he backed away. He kept in close contact with Saul and knew Leticia tried to manage her health. Huge amounts of stress weren’t good for anyone. With a normal shifter or human, short-term stress didn’t matter. In extreme circumstances a person might lose weight and suffer from insomnia, yet it wouldn’t hurt them. With Leticia’s lowered immunity, the added stress was a killer.

  “You’ll have to stop working, Leticia.”

  “I can’t.” Panic filled her gaze. “It’s the only thing that keeps me sane. I need to feel normal.” Her eyes sparkled with more unshed tears and it tore at his gut the way she tried so hard to hold back her grief. Always so brave. He loved her—he’d loved her since he’d first set eyes on her—but all the love in the world couldn’t make her better.

  And now there was Charlie.

  “Stay here with me. Help me in the surgery.”

  “So you can keep an eye on me? Watch me die?”

  “No! I love you, dammit. I want to help.” Gavin closed his eyes, seeking control. If ever there was a time to keep his mouth shut, it was now. Did he do that? No!

  “Won’t your mate have something to say about that?” The mocking tilt of her luscious mouth told him she thought she knew the answer.

  “Come to dinner tonight, as a friend. Ask Charlie if he wants you around.” Gavin held his breath, waiting for her answer. If she said no, he’d have to rope in Saul and request his help. Maybe even Lucas. Hell, he’d use blackmail and every weapon at his disposal to get Leticia to move in with him. Selfishly he wanted to spend time with her before she died.

  “I’ll be in the way. I know what Lucas and Saul were like when they first mated.”

  “And yet you stayed with them.”

  “Lucas is my brother. Where else would I go?” Leticia jumped to her feet and strode two steps. Without warning, she crumpled.

  Gavin sprang, catching her before she hit the floor and swept her into his arms.

  “Put me down. I’m okay.”

  “You’re not,” Gavin snapped. “You’ve lost muscle and you look as if you need a week of sleep.” He hurried down the passage to his bedroom, belatedly remembering he hadn’t taken the time to make the bed.

  “I love your scent. Charlie smells good too. He seems nice.” Leticia’s mouth curled into a sleepy grin, bringing a frown in Gavin. He didn’t like her docile like this. It wasn’t Leticia. He preferred her spiting and fighting, hearing her sassy comebacks. That was the woman he wanted. Gavin set Leticia on a chair and straightened the bed. He would have changed the sheets but Leticia needed to sleep now.

  With the bed made, he crossed to Leticia, grasping her shoulder and shaking her gently.

  “I’m just resting my eyes,” she murmured. “I’m awake.”

  “Did you get much sleep last night?”

  “No. My mind was too busy.”

  A sleeping pill, Gavin decided. She had to sleep or she’d never get through this. They’d lose her, and he didn’t think he could cope with that.

  He knelt in front of her to slip off her shoes. “Come on. Let’s get you into bed.”

  “If I sleep now, I won’t sleep later tonight.”

  “Sleep or you’re never gonna kick FIV butt.”

  Her brown eyes widened before her lashes lowered to screen her expression. “It’s too late.”

  “You follow my advice and we’ll beat this, Leticia. I have a few ideas to try yet. Don’t give up. You
hear me?”

  Gavin unfastened the button on her jeans and tugged them down her legs. This wasn’t how he imagined Leticia in his bedroom. He swallowed, shoving aside the surge of lust. That wasn’t what she needed right now. Seconds later, he tucked her into his bed. After a quick trip to the surgery, he returned with a glass of water and a sleeping pill that was safe for her to take. He made sure she swallowed the pill and sat with her until she dropped off to sleep before leaving the bedroom, pulling the door closed after him.

  He had a lot to do in the next couple of hours.

  As he’d expected Saul and Lucas arrived soon after he rang them.

  “Where’s Leticia?” Lucas prowled into Gavin’s surgery, anger and worry vibrating in his rough voice. “Is she okay?”

  Saul walked over to Lucas and squeezed his shoulder, his touch calming the lion shifter.

  There was no point giving them half-truths so Gavin spoke bluntly. “The disease is advancing. Leticia is experiencing some alarming symptoms. I’ve told her she needs to give up her job and relax or she will die.”

  Lucas growled, fury flaring in his brown eyes. Gavin tensed, understanding the shifter’s anger. He waited, giving both Lucas and Saul time to assimilate everything he’d told them.

  “Can’t you do something?” Lucas demanded.

  “Why didn’t she tell us she wasn’t well?” Saul asked.

  “I don’t think she wanted to worry you.”

  Gavin watched Lucas warily, knowing the shifter hadn’t realized he’d mated yet. A glance at Saul told Gavin he’d scented Charlie on him and recognized what it meant. Without a doubt, all hell would break loose once Lucas realized because he was so protective of his sister. Gavin understood and even admired the shifter for his strong family ties, his loyalty to his sister and Saul.

  “I have a few things I’m going to try with Leticia. It’s difficult because the incidence of FIV in feline shifters is rare and confined to Africa. I’d like Leticia to stay here with me so I can monitor her.”