The Falcon Finds His Mate

by Candace Colt

  The sinews in Ryan’s neck steeled. "I think it’s time you left."

  "Have fun, you two." Connor gave a sharp salute and went inside the main house.

  Speechless like the concrete gargoyles downtown, Jess and Ryan stood silent.

  Finally breaking the stillness, Jess said, "That was lovely."

  Lovely wasn’t the word on the tip of Ryan’s tongue. Curses rolled in his head, none he could repeat aloud.

  "Glad you can’t read my mind," he said, hoping she didn’t. Did her reassuring smile mean she can’t, or she could? "After all that, you did make the trek out here. What was your plan?"

  "Mostly, to apologize for running out on you," she said. Her cheeks had lightened from red to pink.

  "My mother’s the one who owes an apology. She wears prejudice like a badge."

  "If that had happened seven years ago, I’d be hiding in a cave by the falls. I’m not a mousy little kid any longer. Solange proved that."

  How could Jess be so generous. "You owe no apology."

  "Perhaps. But I do want to see your studio."

  Afternoon sunlight cast a spotlight on the magnificent wooden horse, polished to a marble shine. Every detail was seamless. Alive.

  His voice tinged with sadness, Ryan explained it was commissioned and would ship next week.

  "You don’t want to let him go, do you?" She asked.

  "Sometimes releasing something you love is the only option."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Spiders crawled up Jess’s spine. Ryan didn’t mean loving a stallion. Time to straighten things out before they stumbled into quicksand.

  Fingers interlaced behind her, she edged to the front door with an eye to an escape route. "I need to talk to you about something else."

  "No need." He fiddled with his tools. "The kiss shouldn’t have happened."

  Of all the things he could have said, that? Shouldn’t have happened? "Why not?" She popped her palm over her mouth. Uh. Oh.

  His hands froze over his workbench. "What did you say?"

  Her eyes darted around the room’s four corners then froze on a door that was slightly ajar; a bedroom. Coming here may have been a huge mistake. But around him again, her anger dissipated and in its place, desire.

  He coaxed her arms forward. "After further consideration, why not, indeed?"

  With a gentle touch, he ran his hands up her arms and pulled her close. Then he glided his fingers along her jaws, softly tilting her head toward his. His lips grazed hers. Questioning. Wanting more.

  Though her hands found their way around his neck, his hunger challenged her common sense. If she gave in, any caution messages from the universe would be forever silenced.

  If…His lips sealed over hers.

  She…Their tongues played.

  Gave in…A guttural moan rose from his chest.

  Jess broke the kiss. "Wait. We have to stop."

  Eyes half shut, Ryan complied but didn’t release her. "What’s wrong?"

  That was just it. Nothing was wrong. Jess had built a case for apologizing to Ryan. The plan was to say good-bye, not to be in his arms again.

  Every automatic piston in her body had fired. Her breasts had swelled against his chest. A heaviness between her legs cried for relief. And his growing need responded.

  "Jess."

  His deep voice wrapped around her like a warm comforter. She rested her forehead against him as he rubbed small circles on her back.

  After a long moment, he asked, "Is it because I’m a shifter?"

  She wanted to shout ‘no’ to him; to the world; to herself. The truth was, she couldn’t.

  "Maybe," she whispered.

  "What am I right now?"

  "A man." Fully human, gorgeous, and handsome.

  His hand ran down her thigh, paused, then lifted her leg to his hip. She raised the other leg, locking her feet around him.

  With a firm grip on her bottom, Ryan carried her to his apartment threshold where they interrupted their kiss, both panting as his eyes searched hers for indecision.

  She pulled him close, sealed her lips on his, as he kicked open the door.

  *~*

  While Ryan took a business call, Jess waited outside on the small brick patio. She traced the filigreed pattern on a wrought iron table; every curve matched her twisting thoughts.

  The plan had been to strike a peace deal so she wouldn’t have to duck around corners every time she saw him.

  Instead, she’d gone willingly to his bed and didn’t regret a moment. She’d never forget this day. Nor would her lips, swollen from their kisses.

  Or how her skin prickled where he had caressed her body, or how firm and full he felt inside her.

  With the afterglow fading, she realized they acted like crazed teenagers, and that she’d made love to a falcon shifter.

  But the afternoon brought it home how she’d obsessed on the wrong brother. She wanted to laugh, but remembered the Ford estate wasn’t a place where laughter seemed welcome.

  Shadows lengthened and shaded the little patio. She checked the time and messages on her phone. Though they skipped lunch, their appetite had been more than satisfied.

  Another car on the driveway caught her ear. It wasn’t Connor’s. Gypsum jacked up mercy.

  Solange slammed her car door. "I should have guessed that rattle trap parked on the street would belong to somebody like you."

  "What the hell’s your problem, Mother?"

  Jess jumped at Ryan’s booming voice behind her. ‘What now?’ she mouthed as Ryan slipped his arm around her.

  "What is that woman doing here?" Solange sputtered.

  "My guest."

  "And why?" Solange asked.

  Jess waited for his reply. This better be good.

  "Special delivery from Carpe Diem," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

  "What could they possibly have in that little shabbytique that we could use?"

  Shabbytique? The Carpe Diem?

  Solange didn’t miss a beat. "What were you and that little wench up to?"

  Jess’s stomach twisted. Fists tight by her side, she stepped toward the old bat. Or falcon. Whatever she was, she had a Texas-sized bug up her behind, and Jess meant to shove it higher.

  Ryan’s grip on her arm saved her from assault and battery. "My guests are not your concern," he said.

  Ignoring Jess as though she was an ivy-filled urn along the driveway, Solange barked, "This plan has gone completely wrong. I am so disappointed in you, Ryan."

  Jess cut a glance at Ryan, who still gripped her arm.

  "Mother, this is not the right time."

  Solange’s eyelids narrowed as she looked down her nose.

  Jess wiggled from Ryan’s grip. "Right time for what?" This was all too bizarre. "And in case you missed the news bulletin, Solange, the wench you’re talking about is standing here."

  "Fine. It will be much easier to hear this from me," Solange said.

  Though the temperature still hovered in the nineties, Solange’s dark stare sent a frigid blast through Jess. Ryan reached for Jess again, but she stepped away, uncertain who to trust.

  Solange stood tall and jutted her chest. "Connor is getting married in a few weeks to a delightful girl. We didn’t want him unnecessarily distracted. I asked Ryan to help keep you away from Connor, though he took it too far."

  Ryan had done well on his assignment. "So I was a problem to be dealt with." Solange had used a sophisticated tactic and quite effective. Ryan had risen to the occasion and knocked Connor right off the radar. "I have to hand it to you both. What an elaborate scheme."

  Jess was half-way down the driveway before Ryan caught up with her.

  "I never agreed to her plan. If anything, I wanted to keep Connor from hurting you again," he said.

  Jess kicked a pebble into the bushes. How dare this little rock try to escape from Solange’s thorny rose bed?

  Solange was
a master at manipulation and wasn’t above pitting her sons against each other. Maybe the apples didn’t fall far from the tree.

  He’d showered her with politeness, tenderness, and sincerity. Part of an act?

  She snapped her gaze to Ryan. "Thanks for your sacrifice. Hope it wasn’t too painful."

  "Cut it out, Jess. What happened between us was, and still is, from my heart."

  But after all, Ryan Ford was a shifter. For him, changing between stranger and lover might be as simple as turning from man to falcon.

  "And I opened my heart to yours. For the last time."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jess threw her car keys across the kitchen counter and watched as they slid over the edge and into Crealde’s food dish.

  Strung along by a mother and son collusion. Why didn’t she see through this before now? Those Ford con artists didn’t deserve her anger, but they were getting a dose anyway.

  They weren’t going to drag her down. Her smartest decision had been to move away from Nocturne Falls and people like Solange. The sooner she left again, the better.

  "What on earth is wrong?" Echo asked.

  Bile spun up her throat as she cleaned up kibble. "I suspect you know."

  Echo raised her arm to show her cuff bracelet. "I had clients all day. Would you like some tea and we can talk?"

  Jess heaved a sigh, pulled a chair from the table, and displaced Crealde. With a disgusted growl, he thumped to the floor.

  Everywhere she went today she stirred up disaster.

  Neither spoke while lemon balm tea brewed in one of Echo’s twenty-six teapots.

  So many Nana talks at this table, long before Jess knew what her grandmother’s gift was. Or her own.

  "Precious, you seem a million miles away," Solange said.

  If only she were.

  "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Echo asked.

  Was the story worth telling? She’d already replayed it a thousand times since she left the Ford estate; every time the ending was the same. She took another sip of the aromatic tea. "How have you managed to survive in this town?"

  "Whoa. Wait just a minute. We don’t have pointy ears, or the ability to live in the water, or retractable fangs, or whatever. But our remarkable gifts rival anyone. Is it time to break out the party hats?"

  Nana threw the first pity party one afternoon when Jess came home from school, teary eyed after a snubbing from one of the ‘rich girls.’

  They’d worn paper hats, drank root beer, and ate lemon ginger cookies all afternoon. By bedtime, she’d forgotten all about the spiteful school bullies.

  "I’ll be fine," Jess said.

  "I’m about ready to take this bracelet off, so you better start talking."

  Jess’s heart pinched to see the woman’s pixie face in mock anger. She refused to think about the day she wouldn’t be farther away than a text message.

  Without the cuff, Nana could read every thought, including lovemaking with Ryan Ford. Not ready for that.

  "I can’t tell if I’m enraged or outraged," Jess said.

  Echo roiled a laugh. "All the same coin. Zoey and Sierra borrowed my truck and drove out to the Sanctuary but they’ll be home any minute. My advice? Get your pretty selves dressed up and go out on the town."

  How would skull-quaking music in an airless nightclub fix anything after a long afternoon in Ryan’s arms? And a disgusting joust with Solange.

  But what would they do here? Have a mani-pedi marathon and watch Nana’s ‘Charmed’ CDs?

  As she started to her bathroom for a hot bath, Jess remembered the cards and Zoey and Sierra. "Did they have a reading?"

  Echo finished her tea and dabbed her lips with a napkin. "I can’t violate client confidentiality."

  And there was her answer.

  *~*

  Zoey adjusted her off-the-shoulder hot-pink top. "Is this too much skin?"

  Sierra layered eyeshadow. "Depends on your objective. No shoulder; no interest. One shoulder; maybe, maybe not."

  Jess sat cross-legged on her bed. Not quite up for this, she had elected for simplicity; black leggings, flats and a silk blouse that floated over her halter top. A touch of lipstick and a splash of mascara. Maybe her friends could party after making love, but Jess was having second, third and sixteenth thoughts. But it might be time to take a lesson from them and get this behind her.

  Sierra pointed her eyeshadow brush toward Zoey. "And remember what showing both means?"

  Zoey pulled the blouse over her shoulders. "Forget that."

  Jess warily straightened her blouse higher, too.

  "Too bad Elvis can’t take us," Sierra said as the three women crammed into Jess’s tiny car. "His Cadillac was awesome."

  "At the Sanctuary I heard somebody talking about Insomnia," Zoey said.

  Jess had hoped they’d never bring that up. However, after Nana’s pep talk, Jess appreciated that her supernatural ability was as good as anyone’s. About time she asserted herself around this town before she left.

  If anyone even thought about asking why they should be allowed inside, Jess could remove her ring and manifest a little picture in their honor. One or two visions and they’d be set.

  No. She couldn’t dishonor her grandmother by using the gift as a trick.

  She’d let her Insomnia membership expire years ago. "If there’s a line, we can always go somewhere else."

  "Whoohoo. Barhopping like the old days," Sierra said.

  If, and a big if, they got past the bouncer, what then? Members were not costumed theme park employees. These were breathing and living supers having fun in their own watering hole.

  Water. She had to convince them to drink more water.

  *~*

  Jess parked on the industrial side of town and found a spot a block from the building.

  "Where are we?" Zoey hunkered down in her seat. "That sign says Caldwell Manufacturing."

  "You wanted Insomnia. Well, we’re here." Jess needed to clamp the attitude. It wasn’t her friends’ fault she’d hopped into bed with a falcon.

  Zoey and Sierra huddled behind her as Jess tapped the code, grateful she still remembered it and that it hadn’t changed. They went through the first door, past unmanned equipment, to a freight elevator.

  "This can’t be right. Shouldn’t we hear some music or something?" Sierra cautiously peered around. "Are you pranking us?"

  Jess pressed the elevator button, the door opened, and she stepped inside, alone.

  "What’s the problem? Scared?"

  "Nope," Sierra and Zoey said in unison.

  Jess was nervous enough for all three. "Then get in."

  In the basement, the elevator door opened to the lobby and just beyond, dance music, and wall-to-wall supers. And no crowd and no line.

  Zoey and Sierra, smiles wide as the Mississippi River, were about to get their wish. And Jess was about to be sick.

  Chapter Fifteen

  One giant obstacle; the bouncer was a man Jess didn’t recognize. The size of a double-door refrigerator, he sat on a stool, meaty arms crossed. Likely he was one of the town’s gargoyles hired to enforce the club rules.

  "Ladies, your ID." The man’s voice boomed over the music.

  Each produced a card. "These are all out of state. Who’s the club member with you?"

  Jess wiggled her finger for him to bend closer. "I’m staying with my grandmother. We own the Carpe Diem. I grew up here and went to the Academy. These are friends from college. I promised to show them our nightlife."

  Her explanation didn’t register. "I’m not sure this is the right place for you," he said.

  Like she didn’t know who came here. If she pushed and outed herself, no telling what her friends would do.

  Sierra strutted toward him. "Let me handle this."

  Jess grabbed her arm. "Uh, no. There are other places." Embarrassment bathed her. This guy was no match, even for Sierra.

&
nbsp; "Is there a problem, Nick? These beautiful women are with me."

  Someone held Jess’s elbow. She whipped her head toward the source putting her nose-to-nose with Connor Ford’s killer smile.

  He leaned close to Jess. "Never thought I’d see you here."

  Never thought she’d be here.

  Sierra hooked her arm around Connor’s and saluted the bouncer as they passed him.

  Inside, Jess took three water bottles from a bin by the door. "Remember our old rule? First drink of the night, water."

  Connor led them to the VIP section then ordered drinks from the server.

  "Amazing. You snagged Connor just like that. Well done," Sierra whispered in Jess’s ear.

  Right. Well done. She’d vowed never to have another thing to do with a Ford. And what happens? She ‘snags’ one. Staying home and painting her toenails had never appealed more than right now.

  After a few minutes, the server returned with a bottle of white wine and filled their glasses.

  Connor raised a toast. "Ladies, may the moon never catch you crying."

  "This place is unreal," Zoey said as she sipped her wine. "People look like they jumped right out of a fantasy movie."

  Real, unreal and fantasy were just differing perspectives in the Insomnia.

  "Get out and dance," Connor said. "In this crowd, nobody cares if you have a partner or not."

  "Come on," Zoey said as she tugged on her friends.

  "Thanks, but I’ll sit this one out," Jess said.

  As the girls disappeared onto the dance floor, Connor scooted close. "So, you recovered?"

  Ice flash. From what? Making love to his brother? She eased away from him.

  "I heard the whole thing in the driveway," Connor said. "Quite a scheme to keep us apart."

  "She had a willing accomplice."

  "Mother has a thing about mixing humans and shifters."

  "She has a point. It wouldn’t work."

  "That’s where you’re wrong. And did I mention you look beautiful? How about the dance I owe you? If I’m right, our last one was in the Harmswood gym. That would be how many years ago?"