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“What?”
“Your shapeshifting.”
Something about the hard set of his shoulders seemed to relax ever so slightly. However, his expression remained wary as he said, “Yes. We’re not werewolves — we don’t have to fear the full moon, and we control the change. It’s better if we shift at least once each month, because otherwise, we begin to lose touch with that side of ourselves, but it’s still always under our control.”
Those words reassured me. All right, I thought I was doing pretty well with accepting the knowledge that the man I lusted after wasn’t entirely human, but still, it was good to know that I didn’t have to worry about him busting out with the fur and the claws while standing in the checkout line at Walmart.
“Then I really don’t see what the problem is,” I said as he stared at me in astonishment. “I mean, we all have sides of ourselves that we don’t like to talk about.”
“This isn’t a gambling addiction or a fascination with game shows, you know,” Calvin replied, now sounding somewhat strangled.
“I know that,” I told him. “Still, I don’t think it’s as big a deal as you’re making it out to be, either. You could have told me. It would have been fine.”
“It’s not that simple.”
And okay, I got that part of it. The San Ramon tribe had a very good reason for keeping this part of themselves secret from the rest of the world. On the other hand, I liked to think that I wasn’t “the rest of the world.” I was a practicing witch with powers of my own, not a prosy CPA or something. Obviously, Calvin’s people didn’t have much experience with witches and their tendency to be extremely open-minded when it came to the supernatural.
True, there was that long-ago witch in Globe who’d cursed Archie to be a cat, but I had no reason to believe she would have had much interaction with the San Ramon Apache. The world had been a much more segregated place sixty years earlier.
“Because you’remakingit difficult,” I said. “Don’t you have free will? Do you have to do everything your tribe tells you to do?”
He hesitated, expression taut, worried. At the same time, I thought I could see the yearning in his eyes.
And that told me he hadn’t wanted to walk away. He’d only been following the rules laid down by his people, and I told myself I couldn’t be too angry with him over that.
But as far as I was concerned, some rules were made to be broken.
“I already know the worst,” I went on. “Or at least, what some people might consider to be the worst. And I honestly don’t care. I’m also very good at keeping secrets. No one will ever find out because of me.”
Calvin’s hands clenched into fists. Even in the moonlight, I could see the muscles standing out on his arms. This had to be unbelievably difficult. As much as I wanted to step toward him and wrap my arms around him, I knew I needed to stay put. He knew how I felt, and now he had to decide what to do about it.
Then he said, “I think you’re going to get me into a lot of trouble,” right before he closed the distance between us with one quick stride and pulled me into his arms.
That kiss was everything I’d hoped for and more — strong…passionate…tasting faintly of mint, which made me wonder if he’d been chewing gum before he turned into a coyote to scout the crime scene — the kind of kiss that made sweet waves of warmth flow all through my body. The clearing spun around me, all moonlight and dappled leaves and cool night air, and I clung to him, knowing he’d hold me up, wouldn’t allow my suddenly weak knees to let me collapse to the ground.
It could have been a century, or only a couple of minutes. I didn’t know, and I supposed it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that I was pretty sure I never wanted to kiss anyone except Calvin Standingbear for the rest of my life.
He seemed a little overwhelmed, too; as he pulled a few inches away, shock and wonder flared in his night-dark eyes. When he spoke, though, his tone was almost rueful.
“Now I know why I was trying to avoid you.”
“Excuse me?” I returned. How in the world could he view that kiss as anything except utterly amazing?
“I somehow sensed that our chemistry would be combustible.”
Oh. Well, then, I suppose I could understand why he’d felt the need to back off. No point in lighting a fire when you knew you’d have to immediately put it out.
I snuggled against his chest, heard the strong, steady beat of his heart…felt the rock-hard firmness of his body beneath my cheek. “And what did you get for avoiding the unavoidable?” I asked. “Two wasted months.”
He chuckled. “Better than two years.”
True. I lifted my head and gazed up at him. “And you’re not going to take off on me again?”
“No,” he replied, even as his arms tightened around me. “I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to explain this to my family, but….”
“I don’t see why you have to ‘explain’ anything,” I said firmly. “You’re a grown man, and I’m a grown woman. And you’re a shifter, and I’m a witch. It’s all fine.”
“I’m not sure the tribal elders will accept that logic, but okay.” A caressing brush of his hand over my hair, and then he released me, taking a step back. “I’ll deal with them later.”
