A Shift in the Air (13 page)

“
Did he”—Liam’s voice fell
so low, Caitlin had to strain to pick up the words—“touch
ya?”

“
No. Whatever my element
did to him, the instability, the desperate need for power, we never
had sex. He never threatened me with anything but charms and his
fists. I’m not sure he could do more. We kissed as teenagers, might
have groped a bit, but never more.”

“
Buíochas le Dia.”
Liam cleared his throat. “Please let me hold ya. I
can’t stand seein’ that sadness in yer eyes.”

With a shake of her head, she squeezed
her eyes shut—as much for herself as for him. “As soon as he left,
I wrote you the letter, posted it, and drove up to the cliffs. I’d
intended to die. But my element took over and I floated like a leaf
on the wind, landing in the water with hardly a splash. The current
carried me south for a bit, and I came ashore near Kerry. I stowed
away on a ship, used my element to compel a sailor to hide me below
deck for two weeks.”

Caitlin pressed her hand to her belly.
The memory of the waves and the stench of unwashed crewmen soured
her stomach. “I snuck up top one night. The moon painted the water
a brilliant gold, and I thought of you and what I’d lost. I didn’t
think I’d ever be free. So I jumped. But this time, I didn’t try to
save myself. I landed on my back—water’s hard as a rock. Bones
broke. I don’t know how I didn’t drown. Katerina found me half-dead
on the beach a few hours later, and the painkillers they gave me in
the hospital made me loopy enough that I told her everything—except
my name. She convinced me she could make all the pain go away, that
she could protect me if I trusted her.”

“
I wanted to protect ya.”
Liam met her gaze, but she quickly averted her eyes, unable to
stand the pain that tightened his features.

“
I couldn’t let him find
you, Liam. My own life hasn’t been mine since we worked that
fucking charm. But you…if I died, he’d never find you, never hurt
you. I died to save you. And that’s why I lied—tried to convince
you I never wanted to see you again. You have a life here, a pack
who needs you.”

“
Do you need me?” She
looked up at his question. “More importantly, do you want
me?”

“
I loved the man you were.
I think if we had the chance I could love you again. Yes. I want
you.”

“
Then trust me. Ya said
somethin’ to me that last day I didn’t understand. Elementals and
werewolves have a long history. The words stuck with me, so I
started asking around. Werewolves and elementals have mated before.
And they’re always stronger when they do. I’m going to Oregon with
ya, and once we’ve found the book, I’m going to help ya stop
Fergus.”

“
Why?” She knew, but needed
to hear the words.

“
Because I want the chance
to love ya again, Caitlin Brannigan. Don’t take that away from
me.”

Chapter Ten

Beneath the steamy shower spray,
Liam’s hands stroked her breasts, smoothing the silky lather along
her over-sensitized skin. Her nipples tightened under his talented
fingers, and she pressed her ass against his hip. “If you don’t
stop that, we’re never going to make it out of this
apartment.”

“
We’ll leave first thing in
the morning,” he said with a nibble along the curve of her neck.
“The storm’s too bad to leave tonight anyway. Driving along the
coast highway, drunk on your body...I’d run us off the
road.”

“
I’m hungry.”

“
So am I.”
He slid his hand between
her thighs, teasing, and sent a fresh wave of arousal shooting to
her core.

“
Stop it. Food. We need
food.” She twisted, letting the hot water soothe her aching
muscles. “I burn almost everything I cook, but I have peanut butter
and jelly sandwich fixings.”

“
Do ya still like Indian?”
Liam massaged skillful fingers against her scalp, and she tipped
her head back under the spray with a sigh.

“
There’s a decent place
around the corner that’s open until midnight. Oh God. Yes. Keep
doing that.”

Too soon, his hands fell away, and he
wrapped his arms around her waist. “Caitlin, can I take ya to
dinner?”

His serious tone snapped her out of
her sex-induced daze. “Like a date?”

He chuckled and cupped her cheek. “We
did things in the wrong order, luv.”

“
Anonymous sex, a fake
name, ‘breaking up,’ more sex, then feelings? That’s
wrong?”

With a crushing kiss, he reached
around her and shut off the water. “What do ya say?”

“
I would love to have
dinner with you.”

They walked hand-in-hand down the
block, the rain a constant but refreshing companion. “What do you
like to do for fun?” Liam asked, glancing down at her. He’d left
his hair loose, and tiny droplets of water glistened in the
streetlights.

“
I read a lot. The occult
shop—Katerina’s shop—took up most of my time, but I had a cactus
garden.” At his laugh, she nudged her shoulder against his arm.
“You try planting lettuce in Phoenix. I took up running when I
decided to stay here—though that started as a way to release some
of the stress from hiding from your pack. I love the feeling of
getting lost on the trails and greenbelts around here.”

“
That’s it?”

Caitlin looked down at her feet, her
boots making ripples in the puddles along the sidewalk. “I feed the
birds on the roof of the building. And watch the planes go by when
the weather’s nice.”

Liam lifted her hand to his lips and
brushed a kiss to her knuckles. “Back in Ireland as a boy, I
fancied models. Ships, cars…anything that moved. Workin’ on
something so small and delicate requires a focus that speaks to the
beast inside. Calms him, yeah?”

“
When is the full moon?”
Suddenly nervous about the risk of mating with him unintentionally,
she looked up at the sky, kicking herself a moment later at the
sight of the clouds.

“
Four days, luv.” Liam
squeezed her hand. “I won’t mate with ya unless we both feel the
pull. It’ll be hard to keep my hands off ya that night, but I’ll
let my wolf free and run until the moon sets. Ya have nothing to
fear from me.”

She had a lot to fear from the tall,
fiery wolf at her side. Falling in love, losing him to Fergus, the
overwhelming tide of arousal that linked them together, and
exhaustion—pure, blissful weariness, born of more orgasms in a day
than she’d had in a year back in Phoenix.

“
If we
decided…?”

“
We’d have to make love on
the full moon.” He wrapped his arm around her, and the protective
warmth of him soothed the ache inside. The urge to help Mara, the
chains Fergus held that wrapped around her whole being, and the
intense pull towards Liam, towards the man her elemental-self knew
belonged to her, all combined and threatened to tear her
apart.

At the restaurant, Liam held the door
for her. She ducked under his arm into the quiet space, amber
lights within stained glass fixtures chasing shadows from dark
corners. Plush booths, done up in red velvet, surrounded candlelit
tables, and a low, chanting melody twined with a sudden blanket of
loneliness that shrouded her. Shaking off the feeling, she let Liam
take her coat, and by the time he pressed a kiss to her neck, the
sensation vanished completely.

She let the cushions cocoon her,
keeping her safe from Liam’s playful hands. He hadn’t stopped
touching her since the shower, and though she yearned for more, she
needed space to think and to get to know the man she’d run from so
long ago.

“
Do ya trust me?” He
glanced down at the menu briefly and met her gaze with a
smile.

With dinner? Yes. Her heart? Her life?
Caitlin chased the thoughts away with a sip of water. “As long as
you make sure we have plenty of naan, yes.”

He ordered a list of dishes that
sounded like he needed to fuel an army, but he’d always had a
voracious appetite. They toasted with glasses of beer.

“
To gettin’ to know one
another?” Liam asked.

“
I’d like that.”

Over plates of lamb vindaloo, chicken
tikka masala, basmati rice, and a basket of naan, they exchanged
touches, childhood stories, and discovered they shared a love of
Newfoundland rock music, thriller novels, and fish and chips. By
tacit agreement, they avoided any discussion of Fergus, Katerina,
or Liam’s pack until dessert.

Dipping his spoon into a dish of mango
pudding, Liam met her gaze. “Time changes everyone, luv. Ya had
eleven years with Katerina, becomin’ someone stronger and wiser—and
sadder. And I spent the past eleven years tryin’ to find my place.
Failing, mostly. Cade runs a fine pack. He’s fair, and above all,
he’s a good man. Mara’s what every wolf wants in their alpha’s
mate: a good negotiator, a peacekeeper, and…a mother. I lost mine,
ya know, two years after ya left me. Lost both her and my da. If
Cade hadn’t been there, I might not have survived at
all.

“
There’s a lot ya need to
know about those years. I wasn’t…a saint. Bedded a lot of
women—knew few of their names. Lost days…weeks…to drink and drugs.
Got the shite beat out of me more than once by my own packmates,
anyone who’d let me pick a fight. But that’s all behind me now. I
want to make a go of this.”

Caitlin eased the spoon from his hand
and intertwined their fingers. “Be patient with me, Liam. I’m
damaged. Fergus. Even Katerina. She loved me, but what I did…all
because of that damn crystal…I don’t deserve you.”

“
There’ll be none of that
talk, luv. There’s so much more we need to discuss. I have my own
darkness. I had a hand in the boy’s death—the one with Katerina. I
drove Mara from her own house and into Katerina’s trap. And yeah,
ya were there, but Mara told me what ya did for her. Ya kept her
alive. Something good in ya won out over the evil.”

“
How can you be so
forgiving?”

“
Have ya ever met an animal
who held a grudge?” He chuckled, then squeezed her hand. “The wolf
lives in me. He’s under my skin, all the time. Two halves of one
whole. He has his own desires, his own fears, his own needs. He
loves, as much as I do, or more. His instincts guide me. And he
thinks ye’re a good person.”

Caitlin trapped her lower lip askew,
searching for something in his gaze—understanding perhaps, or
truth. Finding both, she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I
hope he’s right.”

***

“
We’re closing in ten
minutes,” the tired waiter told them as he dropped off the bill.
Caitlin looked around: empty tables, chairs stacked upside down,
blackened candle wicks smoking, all echoing the hollow sadness that
filled her when her thoughts turned inward. Fergus. He’d destroy
her if given a chance, and the foreboding mountain of fear towered
over her.

“
I’ll be right back,” she
said and fled to the restaurant’s bathroom. A few tears escaped,
hidden in the cool water she splashed on her cheeks. She’d lost the
confident, strong Bella when Mara destroyed the crystal. But that
woman couldn’t be gone forever, could she? Caitlin wanted her back.
Not the amnesia, not the blind obedience or the cold heart, but the
ability to fight and to hope, to believe.

“
He can’t have my life,”
she told the reflection in the mirror. The ghost of her past
churned with silver streaks amid the blue of her eyes. Her element
ruffled her hair. She could do this. She’d take back her power and
perhaps restore balance to the boy she’d once cared for, now the
man she feared. If along the way, she fell in love…or rediscovered
the love she’d thrown away years ago…she squeezed her eyes shut and
offered a prayer to the goddess. “Protect us.”

Fear beaten for the moment, she
squared her shoulders as she headed back to Liam. The restaurant’s
bar, empty save for a bartender wiping down the high-top tables,
featured a television in the far corner, and the ocean waves
flickering on the screen caught her eye.

No!
Caitlin stumbled, crashing into a stool, and landed hard on
her knees. Her voice croaked as she tried to call for Liam. Icy
fingers tightened around her heart, squeezing, threatening to steal
the last few, precious beats of life.

“
Caitlin!” Liam rushed
forward, picking her up and trying to turn her against him, but she
fought, beating at his chest, tears gathering in her eyes. “What is
it?”

“
Look,” she gasped and
surged forward, her hands flattening on the counter, eyes glued to
the destruction on the screen. “T-turn it up, p-please.”

The bartender shrugged and reached for
the remote control.

“
A dozen people are
unaccounted for, and the coast guard search-and-rescue has been
deployed to retrieve seven bodies at the foot of the cliffs.
Ireland has very little history of earthquakes, and seismologists
are baffled. A plaque at the top of the cliffs, installed only a
decade ago, cracked in two, one half crashing into the sea, the
other tossed two hundred meters inland. We’ll continue to update
this story as it unfolds.”

“
Fergus…did…this.” Caitlin
turned into Liam, pressing her face to his shoulder. “All those
people…dead…because of me.”