by Dold, V. A.
He walked her to the door and he held it open, allowing her to step in first.
They entered and took a look around the HUGE two-room suite. The space was a combination of a large room with a wet bar, eight-person oak dining room table and living room to seat at least six with a sixty-inch flat screen. Through a door on the other end of the room was a bedroom with a king-size bed. The suite was larger than her two-bedroom apartment. She sat on the couch and stared at her feet as she decided what to say.
“Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate everything you’ve done, but why are you doing this for me? I’m a complete stranger you just met. I’m not used to people making grand gestures like you have.”
He searched for the best way to answer. Maybe the romance novel torture inflicted by his cousin when he was young could be useful here. A lot of women read romance novels according to Julia, this was worth a shot as a lead-in. His younger cousin, who eats, sleeps, and breathes romance novels, really gets a kick out of the shifter ones. He shook his head thinking about her book addiction. Regardless, she tormented all her male cousins with endless renditions of her latest favorite read. The boys were spoon fed romance novels ad nauseam. Because of the experience, he had become an unwilling expert in romance novel trivia. He took the opening she offered, deciding there was no time like the present. With his heart racing, he took a chance.
“Cher, do you like to read?”
She stared at him like he was a crazy person. “What?”
“Do you like to read? For example, have you ever read romance novels?” Crud, she thinks I’m a complete nutter.
Her brow furrowed and she seemed confused by his questions. “Yes, why?”
He held up his hands more in a pleading gesture than defeat. “Please, bear with me, okay? Have you read any paranormal romance books?”
She let a little grin escape as she answered, “Yes. Would you like to borrow one? I brought a few with me when I moved here.”
He gave her a crooked grin and cleared his throat. “No, that won’t be necessary. Have you ever read one with shifters? Like men who can change into wolves?”
“Yes, I’ve read many of them. A lot of them take place here in New Orleans. Those are my favorite.”
Taking a deep breath again, he mentally encouraged himself. Come on, Cade, you can do this. Take the chance, she seems open to the possibility.
Anna jumped up and stared wide eyed. She took a couple of steps back and sidestepped behind the couch, placing it like a protective barrier between them.
With her voice shaking slightly, she asked him, “Did I just hear your thoughts?”
He studied her face. “Yes, I’m sure you did.”
Her hand covered her mouth as she gasped in shock. She stood frozen, unable to take her eyes off him. Afraid to move, although why moving would make a difference she had no idea, he wasn’t a T-Rex, for crying out loud.
He directed another thought to her. Cher, don’t be afraid. Please sit and let me explain why I’m talking about romance books and why you are hearing me in your head.
She didn’t speak right away. She stood across the room trembling.
She was both curious and a little leery. Here was her fantasy man who in her dreams turned into a wolf, asking her about reading paranormal romances. With her curiosity winning out, she wanted to see where he was going with this.
An expression flickered over her face as if she decided something. He watched her slowly lower her hand and take a deep breath, then straighten her shoulders. She seemed to be gathering courage as she walked around the couch and took a seat.
He remained quiet and watched the expressions flit across his mate’s face. He wanted to give her time to digest the fact she could hear his thought. Once she appeared to have relaxed a bit, he started again. “You may be wondering if you can speak to me as well. The answer is yes.”
Her eyes got wide again. “Please tell me you can’t read all my thoughts! That would be so embarrassing.”
He chuckled. “No, you have to be thinking very loudly without walls or barriers for me to hear your thoughts. Otherwise I’ll only hear what you direct to me specifically.” He found his mate more and more entertaining.
She let out a sigh. "Good. Who would want another person in their head all the time? Ugh, the thought is horrifying.”
He cocked his head. “Would you like to try? Think something directly at me.”
She considered what to ask for a moment and then thought at him, what are my favorite colors?
He grinned broadly and thought back, bright royal blue and deep purple.
She giggled and clapped her hands.
He was relieved she was enjoying this and not running for the door. He’d managed a major hurdle. Now for the BIG one. “Let’s continue with the shifter stories. Do you believe they could exist and people simply don’t know about them?” He held his breath waiting for her response.
Hold on! Why is he asking me about them being real? Could he actually be the man from my dreams? He looks like him, has the same voice, and in my dreams I made him a wolf. Or did I? Was I really in control of those dreams? She gasped as the possibility hit her. What if they are real and he IS one!
She grabbed a throw pillow lying next to her on the couch and hugged it in front of her as though the satin and fill would somehow shield her from danger. “I need to ask you something, but you’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“I would never think that, go ahead and ask me anything.”
She braced herself and just spit it out. “I’ve been having dreams about a man exactly like you for the past five years. And right before I met you at the bar I was daydreaming about you.” She blushed profusely, but forged on. “Why have I been dreaming about you when we’d never met? Have you been projecting these dreams into my head somehow?”
“Anna, I’ve been having dreams and visions of you for the past five years, as well, and I had a vision of you right before I walked into the bar.” He stopped as if organizing his thoughts. “I think I know what’s happening. In mine I was cupping your face and kissing you when suddenly the dream disappeared.”
She clutched the pillow tighter. “I was having the exact same dream, right before you walked up to me.”
He rubbed his jaw. “I don’t think we’re dreaming at all. I think somehow we’ve been sharing these experiences in our minds. Somehow we’re actually there and everything in our dreams is real, it’s in fact happening.”
He saw her confusion. She must have been wondering how they could have been sharing experiences with their minds. This kind of thing didn’t happen to humans. And yet it had.
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees in as much of a relaxed posture as he could muster. His wolf growled at him for frightening their mate. He had to rein in this situation before it went sideways on him.
“Cher, I don’t mean to frighten you. I’m trying to tell you something without upsetting you. Believe me, there is nothing to be afraid of. I’d never let anything harm you. Let’s go back to what I was talking about with the shifters. I think this’ll all be explained as we go.”
Anna let out the breath she was holding as she pieced her thoughts together. Do I believe they could be real? Yeah, I mean who really knows what all is out there? With a little hesitation, she tried to keep her voice from shaking too badly.
“Sure, I think there are a lot of things humans have no knowledge of. New things come to light every day. I actually have never met one that I know of, but yeah, it could be possible.” Then she sat back and, waited for him to shift into a wolf.
She watched Cade closely. He was in deep thought as though deciding something very important. When he didn't change into a wolf and remained quiet, she started to wonder what he was trying to tell her.
After what seemed like forever, she sighed. “Whatever it is just say it.”
Raking his fingers through his hair, he took another deep breath. “Please tell me you’ll remain calm and keep an open mi
nd?”
She studied him expectantly. “Okay, I’ll try.” Oh, man, here it comes. He’s going to change like in the dreams.
Nothing. No wolf. Really? That’s it? She frowned at him crossing her arms. What the heck?
Finally, he said, “You’ve officially met a shifter.”
Huh? Maybe he isn’t one after all. Maybe he means someone else. Her brows scrunched as she gazed across the room into nothingness, trying to remember when she might have met someone who could be a shifter.
Throwing her hands up in the air, she gave up and turned back to him. “Who? When did I meet one?”
He smiled at her and held out his arms wide to her as if welcoming her in. “Me, cher, I’m a shifter.”
She gaped at him for a moment. “Well that was sure anticlimactic. Are you telling me the truth, or are you completely nuts?”
He rubbed his chin as though considering something. “If I shift only my right arm, will that prove it to you? You won’t completely freak out, right?”
The idea of seeing him change actually excited her. It would be awesome if he really was one and shifting would sure be one way to prove it. Finally, she nodded her agreement.
He appeared concerned. “Okay, you ready? I don’t want to scare you.”
She nodded again, and in the blink of an eye, his right arm was now the foreleg of a wolf with a paw.
She sat in amazement. Without thinking, she reached out and stroked the now wolf foreleg. He actually moaned in ecstasy and his wolf rumbled in satisfaction at his mate’s stroking. She quickly pulled her hand back and he practically whimpered at the loss of her touch.
“You really are a shifter,” Anna whispered to herself.
Chapter 5
Cade gave her a few minutes to regroup after everything he’d thrown at her in the last fifteen minutes. Once he was satisfied she would be ready for the main revelation he began again. “Cher, please look at me.” He waited for her to give him her full attention. “May I please sit with you on the couch?”
She scooted over and made room for him next to her. Then she watched him as he moved from the chair to sit with her. What does wolf man have up his sleeve now?
She smiled. She must have amused herself, her bad pun made him chuckle. He sat, turned toward her, and slowly reached out and took her hands in his.
Cade searched her eyes for signs of distress, and having found none, he began. “When a shifter finds his one true mate, there are specific signs to alert him that she’s the one.” When she remained silent with an attentive expression, he continued. “He’ll be unnaturally drawn to her and she’ll have a scent designed specifically to attract only him, just as he will have a scent specifically for her.” As he said this, he took a deep breath as if he were breathing her in. “When he hears her voice, the experience will be like he is being knocked off his feet and the world opens for him in new, brighter, more fantastic ways.”
Her brow furrowed. But before she asked any questions, he carried on. “The sensation is very hard to describe, but when a shifter experiences it, what he feels is very dramatic and undeniable. And there’s one last and all-defining proof that a shifter has found his mate.” Cade gazed deeply into her eyes. “He’ll hear her thoughts and she will hear his.”
He heard her gasp and saw her frantically searching his face with her eyes.
Then he heard her voice in his mind as she pleaded, Please don’t break my heart, Cade.
Her thought hit him like a battering ram and tore his heart out. The last thing he would ever do on this Earth would be to hurt her in any way.
He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Mate, I will never break your heart. Ever. You are the other half of my soul, my reason for living.” He pulled back searching her face.
Her eyes took on a bright sparkle and he heard her heart pounding wildly. Her thoughts came loudly, This is really happening. To me! The man of my dreams is real. He’s a freaking shifter. And somehow I’m his mate.
He lowered his face slowly toward her but stopped a breath away from touching as he waited for permission to kiss her. She closed the distance and he brushed his mouth softly against hers. The fire he ignited was like a flicker which would grow into the embers of a raging fire. His breath fanned gently over her skin raising goose bumps in its wake. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips requesting entrance.
She leaned into him, her hands gripped his shoulders in a way a person might hold onto a life raft. Her soft curves pressed against his chest and abdomen, the sensation made him want to growl in ecstasy.
As he heard her sigh her lips parted. That was all he needed, he deepened the kiss. His tongue dove inside caressing and memorizing every dip, every curve. Tightening his arms around her, he took away any chance of Anna escaping. Her kiss was nothing short of seduction. His hands slid through her hair and cupped the back of her head. Their bodies molded together perfectly.
He felt her letting go and accepting him, but he didn’t want her to mistakenly view this as only sex, this was the beginning of everything and too important to screw up. He slowly broke away. Leaning his forehead against hers. Breathing heavily, he gathered his control again. With one last nuzzle to her neck, he inhaled her scent into his lungs and leaned away from her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take liberties. Are you all right?”
She nodded in answer but didn’t speak. Before he could become worried by her silence he heard her think, Holy cow, his kiss completely jumbled my brain. I haven’t ever been kissed so completely before. This man is dangerous to women everywhere with a kiss like that.
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. His wolf sighed in relief, to finally hold his mate. The peace Anna gave them simply by sharing herself this way was profound. After a few minutes he relaxed his hold on her, and, cupping the side of her delicate face, waited for her to look at him. “Do you have any questions you would like to ask?”
She had so many questions running around in her brain she wasn’t sure where to begin. She had smelled the wonderful warm chocolate and fresh baked bread in the restaurant, and the delicious fragrance surrounded her again. The aroma must be what he was talking about for a special scent.
Finally she settled on one. “What exactly does being a mate mean?”
He nodded his head. “That’s a fair question. To be a mate is to be married, but so much more. We were created to complete each other. You hold the other half of my soul and I yours. Only by performing the mating ritual will our soul be knit back together to form our complete soul. Prior to meeting me, did you ever feel odd, incomplete, like there was something missing, but you couldn’t put your finger on what?”
Anna nodded yes. “Now that you mention it, I did feel odd and out of place like I never really belonged. A lot. I never knew what was missing and I could never find anything or anyone to make the feeling go away. I’ve always felt different, like I didn’t fit in with other people.”
She took a moment to consider her next question. “If we do the mating ritual, will I be able to shift too?” She couldn’t help the anticipation in her voice. I really, really hope I’ll be able to shift. That would be so cool!
He grinned at her. “Yes. Yes, you will. I personally can’t wait to meet your sexy wolf and my wolf is howling inside with his excitement.”
She laughed with delight and peered up at him. Then she blushed as she thought about the rest of what he had said. “Really?” she asked shyly. I can’t believe he thinks anything about me is sexy. I’m obviously older than him and he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him, not like me.
She saw him scowl at her. He pulled her close again and buried his face in her hair. “Really. I don’t like the less than flattering thoughts you often have about yourself.” He breathed into her ear. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.” You’d be surprised how old I really am, and I love your curves, they turn me on. Remember how your luscious body drove me crazy in our visions?
He
r heart skipped a beat at his words. She was both excited and a little shy about the memories of what they’d done together in the visions. She was so distracted she almost forgot to ask her next question. “Will I be changed at all when we mate? In the movies, the human is bitten and becomes a werewolf. What will happen to me?”
Cade cocked his head much like a wolf or dog would. “Yes and no. You’ll have a long life. Shifters live to be around fourteen hundred years old. I was born in eighteen hundred three, I’m actually two hundred ten years old. We aren’t immortal, but we do live a very long time. I believe because of our aging process you’ll get younger at this point, I guess the best word for this type of conversion is regress. At maturity a shifter appears to be around twenty-five to thirty years old, and they remain looking the same age until they are about nine hundred years old, and then they begin to very slowly age again. So you’ll appear the same as you did in your mid-twenties and have features you had then.”
She paused for a moment as though she were considering what he had just told her. WOW! Being younger again would be so cool, I’d love to look like I’m twenty-five again! I wonder if everything becomes younger. I passed the age line for having children a couple years ago. Will that regress as well?
She stared at the floor and blushed a pretty shade of pink as she ask, “When I regress, will my female parts, the reproductive parts to be exact, get younger again as well?”
He tried to remember if he had ever heard of any wolf having a mate regress who was beyond childbearing years before and what would happen. I should call my mother on this one to verify everything.
Not wanting to give his mate false information he said, “Give me a minute to make a call about children. I’m not sure, and I want to give you an honest answer.”
She took the chance to excuse herself. As she was returning he was ending the call.
He gave her a huge smile. “Yes, actually, you’ll regress in every way and be able to have children if you so desire.”