Birthday Shift (5 page)

“That’ll be
unfortunate, and very sad. Then, he gets sent back to the Faewild – the name
for the Fae world, behind the portal – for another hundred years. It’s a sort
of penalty for not choosing well enough.”

Molly drew a
breath. “Okay. Well… can I ever go there? The Faewild?”

“Yes. But only
for a short time, and only if Cade stays with you all the time. If he doesn’t,
and something happens to you and you can’t get back to the portal in time,
you’ll be stuck there. Or worse, if one of you makes it back and one doesn’t,
you’ll both be stuck in limbo, a sort of halfway house, until the next portal
opens. Which would be another century.”

Swallowing, her
throat dry, Molly nodded slowly.

“Any more
questions?”

“Yes, but they
can wait. I seriously need time to digest.”

“All right, then.”
Lil reached across the table and took both of Molly’s hands in hers. “Know
this. Once you sleep with him he’s yours forever. Only you can send him away.
But he loves you. He’ll be faithful. Fae are amazing lovers. They’re amazingly
considerate – and terribly talented in the sack. I’m just saying, considering
all the douche bag humans you’ve dated, give the guy a chance.”

“It’s just…”
Molly lowered her voice, as one old woman on the table next to them still
seemed to be listening avidly. “It seems crazy. He turned into a cat right in
front of my eyes.”

Lil laughed. “I
wish you could see the look on your face right now. Well, you know how you
always said you thought there was more to the world? There is. And you’ve got a
chance to experience it. And hey. You always said you didn’t think there was a
man left in this world you could get along with.”

Molly huffed. “I
was
joking.”

The grin crept
slowly along Lil’s face. “Even so. Cade’s not from this world. Not even close.”

Chapter Four

On the short walk
home, Molly deliberately dawdled to give herself time to take in all that had
been said. Her friend was a bonafide voodoo woman, or something like it. Her
new pet cat was actually a shape shifter.

And maybe her new
lover. For life.

If indeed, she
wanted him.

She shook the
thought off, by turns amused by the scope of it, and disgusted with herself for
even considering it.

Remembering how
it felt to be touched by him, she shivered with delight. She longed to give him
a test drive, but that would be lethal.

Once you sleep with him, he’s yours forever.

Sending him away
meant he waited another hundred years to try and live in the human world again.
But waiting too long meant he also had to spend another century in the Faewild.

The human world.
She felt like laughing out loud.
There
are beings other than humans out there.

She still didn’t
know if she truly believed it.

Lil’s right, though.
She decided to spend time picking up some
groceries—bread, fresh pasta, sauce, some leafy greens.
My luck with men is poor at best. And Cade has chosen me from all the
women on Earth he could have had. Why shouldn’t I give him a chance?

How much worse
than a normal relationship could it be? At worst, it was sort of a supernatural
arranged marriage.

She’d have to
talk to Cade tonight. See how he felt about this – even though he’d chosen her,
he might feel differently after the way she had reacted to him.

Thinking about
it, and wanting to be able to concentrate on his face and not his incredibly
endowed body, she ducked into a discount men’s clothing store, and with a
careful eye, picked out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, in a size she hoped
would decently fit him.

Bags in hand, she
let herself into her apartment.

As she’d hoped he
would be, Cade sat curled up on the couch, tail wrapped around himself. She
knelt by the couch and stroked a hand along his back. His green eyes snapped
open, as if to say
you’re home.

“Cade,” she told
him, stroking the soft scruff of his neck, “We need to talk. I want you to
change. Please.”

She stood back,
and no sooner were her feet on the floor than Cade stood before her.
Thoughtfully, he quickly grabbed the tea towel on the side of the couch and
covered himself.

“No need for
that.” Molly handed him the grocery bag. “I got you, some, ah, human clothes. You
can go put them on. It should be self explanatory.”

“Thank you.”
Gratitude etched itself all over his face. “I will put them on.”

“I’ll leave you
to it.” In the kitchen area, with her back to him, Molly stowed groceries and
tried not to imagine him naked.

And failed.

“I am ready,” he
called out.

Molly turned
around, and stifled a laugh. He had the t-shirt on backwards. In that moment,
he looked so adorable that she knew, no matter what he said, that she’d give
him a chance.

How can I not?

She bit down on
her lip at his confused expression, trying to keep it in, but it just wouldn’t
be silenced. Laughter streamed from her, so hard she had to hold her stomach.

The utter
confusion on his face made the situation that much more hilarious.

“What is so
humorous?” he asked, blankly, and in that moment he was so innocent, so
human,
that Molly knew she had to give
him that chance.

Who knew. Even if
there were any decent men left on her little square of the earth, she’d much
rather take her chances with the adorable shifter stood before her, gorgeous
even in a backward shirt.

“Let me help
you.” She moved towards him, sure in her steps now, confident, excited even.
Her fingertips found the hem of the shirt. “Lift your arms.” Her gaze drinking
in the firm, tanned contours of his chest, she slowly smoothed the material up
his body and down his arms. Everywhere her skin brushed his, the most
incredible tingle of desire sparked between them.

“Show me how to
put it on the human way,” he said softly.

Molly dropped the
shirt to the floor. “How about we do that later.” She slid her hands down his
arms, then linked her fingers with his tenderly, playfully. “I want you to show
me what you can do to me. How you can make me feel.”

“You mean… make
love?” His face lit up with surprise and pleasure.

“Not yet.” She
willed him to understand. “Just kiss me. Show me… pleasure. It’s been so long
since I felt a man’s touch.”

Cade’s lips
curved then. “I understand.”

“Then, maybe
later tonight, we could go out. For dinner. On a date.”

Now Cade’s eyes
lit with understanding. “I know this word. When humans like each other they do
this. A date.”

“Yes.” She
laughed, excited. “We can see if we like each other enough to at least give
this binding thing a shot. I’m sorry that I can’t decide right now, Cade, but I
need time. I’m not used to putting my heart in someone’s hands right away.”

“You are right to
be cautious, my lovely one,” Cade reassured her, squeezing her hands. “You are
very smart. That is part of the reason why I wanted you for my own so much.
Now, sit down. I will show you how I can make you feel.”

Stomach churning
with excitement, Molly did as he bid, releasing his hands and moving to the
couch. As she sat, Cade moved to sit beside her. “How I have longed to touch
you,” he murmured as he cupped her face with one hand, his thumb gently
stroking her lower lip, creating delicious friction. For a moment that seemed
to stretch into an hour all he did was touch her there, the briefest of
connections.

Then, just when
Molly thought she could wait no more, and she wanted to reach out and grab him,
he leaned forward, and his lips replaced the teasing touch of the pad of his
thumb.

Desire sizzled
through her as Cade oh-so-slowly drew his tongue across her lower lip,
stroking, caressing. Then he kissed her, butterfly kisses at first, fleeting,
light, no more than the brush of his mouth against hers.

Molly thought
he’d stop teasing then. But, surprising her, he left her mouth and turned his
attention to her neck, bridging kisses down over her chin, then whispering
praise against the long column of her neck, briefly nipping with his neck,
stroking with his lips.

His hands
remained on his lap, not touching her, and, driven to distraction by that,
Molly took his hands in hers. “Touch me,” she murmured, almost subconsciously
giving the command. “I want to feel your hands on my skin.”

With previous
lovers, she’d never felt confident enough to give such a command. But Cade
wasn’t like human men. He seemed content only to please her, to spend hours on
kisses if she so desired.

She wanted more.

He did as she
bade him, placing his hands first on her shoulders, gently kneading them in a
sensual massage as his lips worked their way down her neck, both tickling and
arousing her. The combination made her skin tingle with excitement and lust.

When his hands
slid down her chest to cup her breasts, she felt the heat of his palms through
the thin lace cups of her bra. Her nipples, already hard, strained through the
layers of fabric.

Cade smiled
knowingly and strummed his fingers over one hard peak. Molly moaned as
sensation flooded her. That same arc of sensation arrowed down between her
legs, and she squeezed her thighs together, knowing her body had quickly
readied itself for him.

Cade rolled her
nipple between his thumb and finger. “I want to kiss you here,” he murmured
against her neck as he toyed with her breast. “Would you like that?”

“Very much,”
Molly gasped.

Cade’s hands
wandered to the hem of her t-shirt, and he lifted it over her head, leaving her
exposed to him in her lace bra, the pretty, flower-patterned white edges
starkly pale against her skin.

“You humans have
the most beautiful under coverings,” he whispered as he traced his finger over
the cups of her bra. “How do I remove this?”

Finding his
innocence charming, Molly took his hands and guided them around her to the back
fastening of her bra. “Find the clasp and unhook it.”

It took him
several attempts, but he smiled as he tried to work the little hooks and
eyelets, and as Molly assisted him they laughed together. As Cade slid the
straps of the bra down her arms, Molly knew she had not been this relaxed with
a lover she’d known for months, let alone someone she had only known for days.

Cade cast her bra
aside, and a slight rush of cold air enveloped her breasts, tightening her
nipples. “Lay back,” he gently requested.

Molly did as he
asked, lying down on the long couch. Cade knelt beside her. She expected him to
move straight to her breasts, but instead he kissed her forehead and stroked
her hair, running his fingers through it, whispering to her of its softness.
“All the Faewild women have dark hair, and it is kept short,” he told her
gently. “Your hair is the color of gold, the color of sunlight. It is
beautiful.”

All this time his
free hand stroked the soft globe of her breast, toying with her nipple.
Finally, when the tension had drawn bow-tight inside her, he bent his head to
her breast and laved her nipple with his tongue.

Need flooded her,
and she arched her back, wanting to be closer, wanting more. When his other
hand moved from her hair, and reached around to caress her unattended nipple,
the twin sensations made her inner muscles clench. She could feel the hot,
creamy evidence of her arousal trickling down into her panties.

Suddenly, Cade
stopped.

Molly sat up,
confused, her vision all but clouded with all consuming desire. “What…”

“I do not wish to
go any further at the moment, dear one,” he told her, his face betraying the
sadness he felt. “It would be terrible if you were caught in the moment and
asked me to make love to you and we would be realmbound.”

Torn, Molly
worried her lower lip between her teeth. She had just been about to ask him to
do exactly that. She had been so caught up in the moment….

“Thank you,” she
told Cade. “I suppose… I better go and shower and dress, if we’re going to
dinner.”

He looked
crestfallen. “I am sorry if I’ve upset you.”

She cupped his
face, felt the soft scratch of his stubble against her palm. “You did the right
thing. Will you…” Her gaze tracked down to his lower body, where the evidence
of his unfulfilled arousal tented his jeans. “Will you be all right?”

“I will,” he
assured her. “My pleasure will come when you, hopefully, choose me as I have
chosen you.”

Molly nodded, relieved, and
moved away, hurrying to the bathroom, lest she get carried away again. It was
all too easy to see how a Fae with less pristine intentions could get
themselves realmbound to a human without much effort. Molly should thank God
Cade had been screened, as it were, by Lil. Never had she been more grateful to
have a friend who was a weird voodoo goddess!

~ * * * ~

When Molly
emerged from the bathroom a half hour later, dressed simply in a short black
dress with a red rose corsage on the neckline, she found Cade sitting on the
couch, flipping through a magazine.

She offered him
the items of clothing she held out. “My brother Patrick, who lives in
New Jersey
, gave me these for Goodwill,
but I’ve been lazy in cleaning out my closet,” she confessed.
Why am I embarrassed? Like he knows what
Goodwill means anyway.
“These might fit, and they’re nice enough for dinner
out.”

Cade stood,
gorgeous as any human man, and twice as alluring even in the simple t-shirt and
jeans she had fetched him from the clothing store. “Thank you. This is what
humans wear for… special occasions?”

“Yes.” She could
hardly wait to see him in the suit jacket, dark trousers and shoes – which she
had to hope would fit. “I hope they’re okay. I mean, if they don’t fit we can
order in.”

But she prayed
they would. She’d been so hot and bothered by him earlier that she had relieved
herself in the shower, letting her soapy fingers ease the huge amount of
tension centered in her breasts and her clit, but she knew it was a temporary
measure. Sooner or later, probably sooner, she'd have to have Cade.

“I will try
them.”

“You can go in
the bedroom and put them on,” Molly offered.
Please don’t undress in front of me, I don’t know if I could take it.