Perfect Mate (4 page)

Nell looked up at him, then took on a look of defiance. “All right. See if you can
keep up.”

“I love a challenge, darlin’.”

Cormac led her away, walking in front of her—Shifter males always went first to scope
out any danger. But he held her hand all the way.

Joe lifted his beer in a silent toast. He hoped they worked it out. They made a good
couple.

As they disappeared into the mass of dancers on the floor, Joe’s thoughts returned
to his plans to kill Shane. Nell’s story was heartbreaking, but twenty thousand dollars
was twenty thousand dollars.

Cormac could dance. He could dance, he could kiss, and he had a smile that lit up
the room. It wasn’t fair.

The dance was a quick one. But instead of shaking himself around like the humans or
the younger Shifters, Cormac kept hold of Nell’s hands, pulled her close, and spun
around with her. He swung her out and then back to him, never missing a step.

Nell found herself against his chest again, with his hands on the small of her back.
He was a solid wall of male, strong and steady, a rock in a whirling maelstrom.

Raking up her pain about Magnus was breaking something open inside her. It was too
long ago—she’d moved on. She’d managed to survive after Magnus’s death because she’d
had to. Shane and Brody had needed her.

Once humans had discovered that shape-shifters existed and herded them into Shiftertowns,
Nell’s past had receded, becoming a distant world. She’d found a new life, her sons
had better chances of finding mates, and she looked forward to settling down and dandling
her grandkids on her knees.

Now Cormac was messing with her head. She hated thinking about Magnus lying dead,
shot multiple times through the head with the large revolver he’d bought. One shot
wasn’t always enough to kill a Shifter. Magnus had shot himself until he’d collapsed,
and then he’d bled to death on the bank of a river.

The pain of that was nothing Nell wanted to remember.

Cormac swung her around again in the dance, then she ended up once more against his
chest.

He smelled of perspiration and himself, warmth and spice. Nell’s anger wound through
her still, and she wanted to lash out at him, claws and all, for causing it.

At the same time, she wanted to sink into his warmth, where nothing mattered but the
music and the dance. The noise was a cushion of sound, isolating them, the darkness
keeping everyone else in shadow.

Nell risked everything and let her head rest on his shoulder.

Cormac rubbed his hand through her hair, slowing the dance. Nell moved with him, closing
her eyes.

Nice to have someone to lean on. Nell had relied on herself alone for too long.

The music faded, segued into another song, and blared again. Faster this time. Shifters
yelled and started whirling, including her son Brody, who’d snagged a young Feline
for the dance.

It was too much. Too much sound, too many scents, too many bodies.

Bears were meant to live in the quiet of deep woods, near the cool of a mountain river.
What the hell was Nell doing in Las Vegas, in the middle of a pile of Shifters, dancing
at a club?

“Want to get out of here?” Cormac said, his voice warm in her ear.

“Please,” Nell said breathlessly.

His hand closed over hers, sure and comforting, taking her out of this place into
the chill darkness and blessed quiet of the winter night.

“You all right?”

The parking lot outside the club was freezing, and Nell had nothing but the little
wrap that came with the dress, but Cormac was beside her, his warmth cutting the cold
of the January wind. This was the Mojave Desert, blistering in the summer, but it
could turn bone-cold in the winter.

“What do you think?” Nell asked.

“I know what you need.”

“Don’t you dare say a good roll in the hay.”

Cormac frowned, as though that had been the last thing on his mind. “No, you need
to get away and go for a run. Come on. I know a place.”

“How can you know a place? You just got here.”

He shrugged. “Eric and his mate told me about a place. In case we needed somewhere
to be alone.”

“Eric is an interfering pain in the ass.”

“He’s Shiftertown leader. Being an interfering pain in the ass is kind of his job.”

Cormac kept hold of Nell’s hand but walked her on toward his truck, a secondhand F-150
he’d picked up just today. Shane had insisted they all come here in it. They’d looked
ridiculous, three large bear Shifters in the cab, Shane lounging in the back. Nell
was sure the drivers they’d passed had laughed their asses off.

“How will Shane and Brody get home?” Nell asked as Cormac unlocked the door.

“Somehow, I think your sons will be just fine. Half of Shiftertown is here. They’ll
catch a ride.”

Yes, Shane and Brody were pretty good at taking care of themselves. Brody was one
of Eric’s trackers—he helped Eric look into problems and acted as a bodyguard if necessary.
Shane performed similar tasks for Nell, the highest-ranking bear in Shiftertown.

Where would Cormac come into the hierarchy? Dominance shifts were a huge problem when
new Shifters moved into Shiftertowns. Things still hadn’t shaken down from the Lupines
moving in. The Lupine leader was a big wolf Shifter called Graham, who’d been his
Shiftertown leader before that Shiftertown was closed. Graham and Eric had come to
an agreement not to battle for dominance, but the tension still ran through Shiftertown.

Cormac didn’t seem worried about dominance, hierarchy, or any other annoyances of
Shifter life. He drove confidently away from Coolers and up the Boulder Highway to
95 and north out of town, before turning onto a smaller highway that led toward the
mountains.

In January, Mount Charleston and the surrounding peaks would be packed with snow,
and Nell was in a close-fitting black party dress with a tiny shawl, and heels. She
was already shivering.

“I didn’t bring my skis,” she said as Cormac started winding to higher elevations.

“Bears don’t ski.” Cormac laughed, a warm sound that filled the truck. “But I’d love
to see it. Wouldn’t
that
video go around the Internet?”

“Don’t be stupid.” Nell growled because she wanted to laugh. The vivid picture of
Shane, in his bear form, his Collar around his neck, skiing downhill with poles and
everything—maybe a little woolly hat on his head—flashed through her thoughts. Knowing
Shane, he’d wave a big bear paw at her as he went by.
Look at me, Ma!
He’d always been such a show-off.

Nell folded her arms over her chest and pretended to be grumpy. “You haven’t told
me exactly where we’re going.”

The pickup bumped over ruts, the piles of snow on the side of the plowed road growing
larger as they climbed. “Cabin that belongs to Eric’s mate. Iona said if we needed
to get away and be alone, I could grab the key from her and come up here anytime.
I like her.”

“Yes, Iona is very generous.”

Cormac looked sideways at her. “You know, someday, you’re going to break down and
enjoy yourself.”

“I enjoy myself all the time. I’m the queen of enjoying myself. Driving up the mountain
in a deep freeze while I’m wearing a small dress isn’t my definition of enjoyment.”

“You’re a bear, Nell. You love the cold. Don’t tell me you don’t miss northern winters.”
He let his hands relax on the wheel, head back on the headrest. “Snow like a layer
of cloud, unbroken, untracked. Stillness so vast you can hear snow sliding from a
tree branch two miles away. Curling up in a den in blissful solitude, warm and safe,
while the world falls silent around you. I love hibernation—great time to catch up
on reading.”

Nell did remember the emptiness of the land in northern Canada, the cold that destroyed
and yet was beautiful at the same time. She’d lead Shane and Brody through the winter
wonderland, where they’d ice fish and then cook it in the little brick house they’d
built themselves. In spite of Nell having no mate to help her out, there still had
been some good times. Her sons were bundles of love, and as little cubs, they’d been
adorable.

They still were adorable, and didn’t they get embarrassed when she said so?

Cormac left the main road behind and drove along a half-plowed road, his tires spinning
a bit about every ten yards. He finally pulled into a clearing, parked in front of
a cabin with large windows and a deep porch, and turned off the truck. All was darkness
and silence. Peaceful.

Nell followed Cormac into the cabin, where he adjusted the heat settings and built
a fire in the fireplace.

The cabin had a large living area and one bedroom downstairs, and a second floor with
two doors—bedrooms with a bathroom between them. She knew that Eric and Iona often
drove up here for privacy, which was hard to come by in Shifter houses, and he invited
others up here when they needed quiet time, but Nell had never come. This was Eric’s
territory, and Nell wouldn’t invade it.

Apparently, Cormac had no such worries. He coaxed the fire to start, then rummaged
in the refrigerator and freezer, finding beer, water, and plenty of frozen dinners.

“Iona keeps the place well stocked,” he said admiringly.

“Iona and Eric come up here a lot, as do Cassidy and Diego, and Iona’s human family.
In fact, I’m surprised to find the place empty.”

“Eric said he’d keep everyone away.”

Nell planted her hands on her hips. She opened her mouth to yell at him, then she
exhaled, letting her body unclench. Why bother? Cormac and Eric had obviously planned
this little excursion, probably had laughed about how Nell would react.

“Eric is going to be picking his teeth out of the carpet for a long time,” Nell said.

“Eric’s a good guy, for a Feline.”

“Felines are sneaky,” Nell growled. “Too sneaky for their own good.”

“That’s why I prefer bears.” Cormac came around the kitchen counter to her and rested
his hands on her waist. “Especially a sweet, lovely, warm female bear who tells it
like it is.”

“No one tells it plainer than I do,” Nell said.

“Glad to hear it.”

His hands on her waist were warm, distracting. Somehow there was less distance between
them, his body an inch from hers. Nell’s breasts touched his chest when she took a
deep breath.

“I don’t want to talk about anything,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about Magnus,
or why he killed himself, or what happened to me after that. Or the letter, or why
you decided to find me. All right?”

Cormac’s eyes had darkened to his bear’s, his smile gone but his mouth still soft.
“All right.”

“You agreed easily.”

“I know when to shut up.”

Nell swallowed, her voice softening. “All this digging up the past, it hurts me.”

“I know.” Cormac skimmed his hands up her arms to her shoulders, his face now closer
to hers. Unshaved whiskers, black against his tanned skin, glistened in the growing
firelight.

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” Nell said, the words difficult. “Not right now.
I’m too upset.”

“I know.”

Cormac’s hands warmed her, and so did his eyes. The heating system came on, brushing
toasty air through the cabin, and the fire started to crackle.

Cormac’s lips warmed her even more. Nell let him kiss her, not fighting, not pulling
away. Kissing was fine. Not dangerous. Not heartbreaking.

At least, it never had been before.

Cormac coaxed her lips open as his hands moved to her back. Nell clenched her fists
at her sides as his skilled tongue dipped inside her mouth, licking the moisture from
behind her lower lip.

The taste of him, a new sensation, heated her, opened her. Her body warmed as the
room lost its edge of cold, her muscles relaxing whether she liked it or not.

She was too old for this. Nell was in command of her body, her mind, her emotions.
Always. She had to be. Fun was one thing. Becoming a blubbering idiot was something
else.

As he kissed her, Cormac’s hands closed over hers, caressing, easing them open. He
twined his fingers through hers—blunt, callused fingers that held the strength of
ages.

Heat gathered at the base of her spine. She wanted to flow against him, to reach for
him with her whole body.

“No,” she whispered.

“I’m only kissing you.” Cormac’s breath was hot on her lips. “That’s all, Nell.”

She liked how he said her name. A plain, short syllable, but his voice rumbled it
and filled the empty spaces.

“All right,” she said softly. “Kissing only.”

Cormac smiled, his eyes glittering in triumph, and Nell’s heart squeezed.

Cormac kissed like he danced. He started a rhythm of small kisses across her lower
lip, gentle ones on the corners of her mouth, nibbles where he’d kissed her.

His whiskers rubbed her chin, then her cheek when he took the kisses to her cheekbone,
the bridge of her nose. Nell struggled to breathe. When she inhaled, she got the scent
of him, a male wanting a female, and the nice, clean smell of his breath.

He kissed her cheek again, and she felt the touch of his tongue. He brushed kisses
and little licks all the way to her earlobe, then came the small prick of his teeth.

She sucked in another breath. “Kissing only, I said.”

“This is kissing.” His voice tickled deep inside her ear. “And this.” He touched kisses
to the shell of her ear, then her temple, her forehead.

Nell closed her eyes. He’d released her hands somewhere during the kissing, and she
now clutched the fabric of his shirt. She tried to make herself let go and couldn’t.

Cormac kissed the tip of her nose, smiling as he did it. The man smiled too much.
He had to stop that, because he made her want to smile back.

He touched kisses to her mouth again, this time interspersing them with little licks.
Every lick sent a stream of fire through her, her female spaces responding with answering
fire.

Nell’s mouth opened for him, her lips shaping to his. Cormac swept his tongue into
her mouth, continuing the dance. He licked behind her teeth and under her tongue,
tangling with her, tasting her.

He gently pulled back, taking away his talented mouth, leaving Nell bereft.

“Now
you
kiss
me
,” Cormac said.

“What?” Since when did her voice shake so much? “I have been.”

“No. I kissed you. It’s your turn.”

“We aren’t cubs,” Nell tried.

Cormac’s laugh was soft and low. “Do you see anyone here who cares?”

They were alone. Quite alone. Up here on the mountain, shielded by a blanket of snow,
there was no one to see them, no one coming. Eric, the rat, had probably warned everyone
in Shiftertown to stay away.