Dawning of Light (8 page)

Lacey furrowed her brows. “You’ve been at the beach for half the day? Doing what? It’s entirely too cold to go swimming anymore.”

Don’t I know it?
Cecilia suppressed a shudder and shoveled more warm casserole into her mouth.

“Just, you know, hanging out on the beach.” Naked, with Finnegan’s overheated body wrapped solidly around hers. Too bad she had been lucid enough to say no when he propositioned her.

“I fell asleep.” In Finnegan’s delightfully comfortable and warm bed. If only he had joined her.

“That’s what you get for trying to catch the sunrise,” her mother chided. “You look flushed, dear. Are you feeling okay?”

I feel like I want to throw myself at Finnegan and beg him to use that feather on me
.

“It’s probably because I just woke up.”

“I like to catch the sunrise too,” Samuel said, speaking for the first time since Cecilia joined them.

She nearly groaned. She and Samuel spent one night together about a million years ago. They parted as friends, and she had never really considered pursuing anything more, mostly because at the time, she hadn’t been interested in anything else. The idea of him courting her now seemed so…awkward. And that was beside her determination
not
to mate with a lightbearer at all.

Lacey smiled at him before commenting to Cecilia, “Next time, you should take Samuel with you. Then your father and I wouldn’t have to worry.”

Cecilia didn’t respond. Her parents spent more time worrying that she might be attracted to the
wrong sort
than worrying about her safety. Samuel, not surprisingly, was exactly the
right sort
. Lucky Cecilia.

“I’m going to head up to the beach house,” she announced after Samuel helped her clear and wash the lunch dishes.

“I’ll walk you there,” Samuel suggested, which her parents naturally thought was a marvelous idea. Since her options were to hang out at the house with Samuel and her parents or let Samuel escort her up to the beach house, she decided to go with option number two. Hopefully, she could ditch him once she found Olivia.

So Samuel escorted her down the flagstone path and up the stone steps built into the side of the cliff, to the front door of the king’s beach house. Unfortunately, he didn’t stop there, but followed her inside. Even more unfortunate, he stayed.

* * * *

“Lights above, that man does not take a hint,” Cecilia complained when she and Olivia returned to the entertainment room after finally escorting Samuel out the front door. Shortly after he moved into the beach house, Tanner had overseen the remodeling of this wing of the house. What had once been a series of small parlors was now one vast room, complete with a movie screen covering one wall and a full-service wet bar in one corner. Unlike most other windows in the house, the ones in this room had curtains that could be pulled to block out the light, thus making movie watching more enjoyable.

“He didn’t do anything overtly annoying today,” Olivia commented as she pulled two bottles of water out of the glass-fronted refrigerator behind the bar. She walked to the couch, handed Cecilia one of the bottles, and then sat down next to her.

“He did seem to be on his best behavior,” Cecilia admitted. “But I know what he’s up to.”

“Are you not ready to settle down at all, or is it just Samuel?” Olivia wondered.

“Both,” Cecilia replied. “Although, in truth, it’s mostly the idea of settling with a lightbearer.”

“We are not all like your parents, Cici. In fact, I would say the vast majority are not.”

“That isn’t the point. I simply do not want to give them the satisfaction. It will be like letting them win, and I refuse to do that.”

“You should not allow them to influence your decision like this,” Olivia chided. “What if the most utterly perfect lightbearer came along, but you refused to see it, because of your parents?”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. Look at you. You have always been the good one of the two of us, and you went against your parents’ wishes and mated with Tanner.”

Olivia’s hand lifted of its own accord and rested on her slightly rounded belly. “My parents have finally come around. I still cannot believe my father publicly proclaimed my pup as his heir.”

“Good for Uncle Sander,” Cecilia said fiercely. If only her parents were half as open-minded.

Olivia smiled. “Did I tell you he asked me just this morning if he could perform the lightbearer union ceremony? He said it would make him feel better about our relationship. It was such an awkward conversation, because I knew he knew exactly how we mated, in the way of the shifters.”

Mating in the way of the shifters
. An image of Finn popped unbidden into Cecilia’s mind. “You two do it that way all the time. At least every time I’ve walked in on you, that’s what you’re doing.”

“That’s how Tanner likes it. He says to a shifter, it reaffirms the connection between mates. It’s the most intimate way to be together. A shifter’s way of saying ‘I love you,’ maybe?”

“He doesn’t tell you he loves you? He just—you just make love shifter-style and know how he feels?” Cecilia sounded dubious.

“Oh no,” Olivia assured her. “He says the words, don’t worry. Constantly, it seems, now that I’m carrying his pup. Like he never wants me to forget it—as if I ever would.” She smiled. “It’s hard to explain. I think in his mind, he needs that connection, I mean really
needs
it. Not that I mind, because, ho boy, I promise you, there is nothing quite like—well.” She blushed furiously and fanned her face with her hand. “Suffice it to say, we are both quite satisfied with that aspect of our relationship.”

Cecilia laughed. “I can tell. And I doubt you’ll ever get bored of each other.”

Olivia sobered. “Is that what you are afraid of? Getting bored?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. Yes, a small part of me worries about getting bored. But honestly, I am just not ready, Olivia. And even if I was, how would I ever find a mate, with Finn stalking me at every turn?”

“Stalking you?” Olivia laughed.

“Yes,” Cecilia insisted, although in truth, this morning, it had been a very good thing he’d been stalking her. If not, she might very well have died out there in the lake. “Speaking of men, where is Tanner?” she asked, thinking that wherever he was, if he wasn’t with Olivia, he was likely with Finn.

“I have no idea, actually. Finn stopped by earlier, and he and Tanner disappeared into my father’s library for a short time, then Tanner came and found me and told me they were going out. I figured they were going to go practice with the guards.” She shrugged, not concerned in the least.

Ever since Quentin was killed and Tanner had moved into the beach house with her, Olivia discovered a new appreciation for life within the coterie. She was happy to—finally—live the life her parents had wanted for her from the beginning. Of course, they hadn’t intended for her to be mated to a shifter, but at least she was settled and carrying the heir to the kingdom in her womb. That was something, right?

Cecilia stayed through dinner, and then she bade her goodbyes to Olivia and her aunt and uncle and headed home. Samuel waylaid her halfway. Maybe she had two stalkers.

“Hey, Cecilia,” he said as he fell into step with her.

“Are you following me, Samuel?”

“Actually, I was on my way to the tavern. Would you like to join me?”

The tavern was in the village square, at the base of the cliff. The only way he could possibly be on his way to the tavern was if he’d just come from a practice session with Finn and Tanner. Cecilia supposed that was entirely possible and tried really hard not to be annoyed.

“No, thank you.” She politely declined his offer.

“Why not? Plans with that shifter?”

Something in his tone gave her pause. She stopped and turned to face him. “No, actually, I have no plans with shifters or otherwise. I’m just tired, and frankly I want to be alone right now. And to tell you the truth, I’m really tired of your matchmaking attempts. I’m not interested, Samuel. I’m sorry if that injures your pride, but I am just not ready to consider taking a mate, okay?”

Samuel blinked at her, looking faintly bewildered. “Who said anything about mating? I mean, certainly, I guess, maybe, someday. But really, I just wanted to have a drink. No strings attached.”

Guilt hit her. “Really? You aren’t, you know…” In retrospect, he had not come right out and asked anything. Perhaps she had been reading into his actions.

“I just want to buy you a drink at the tavern. I have no intentions beyond that,” he assured her.

She sighed. “Okay. One drink.” It was better than going home and dealing with her parents. Practically anything was better than that.

* * * *

Tansy Gorman was one determined lightbearer. She’d even been so bold as to drop very obvious hints about her preference for having sex animal style.

Not on your life
, Finn thought as she batted her eyes and trailed her pink-painted fingernails along his arm. He wasn’t interested in taking a mate at all, but especially not with Tansy. He could tell that she was a high-maintenance female, the sort who expected him to cater to her every whim, probably without complaint too. No doubt she intended to use sex as a means to capture herself a mate, but once she had him, she’d quickly lose interest. A woman who expected him to keep her entertained, not complain, and then wouldn’t even reward him with hot sex afterward?

Not on your life
.

He wasn’t even sure how he’d ended up sitting across from her in this brightly lit, glass-enclosed tavern. Wait, yes, he was sure. He’d been trying to get his mind off Cecilia. Off what her body had felt like, naked and curled up in his lap. What she’d looked like in the shower, and sound asleep, buried under the blankets in his bed. As badly as his body craved Cecilia, he figured the very last thing he should do was pursue that craving. Bad things happened when a man gave in to that sort of temptation.

His brother, Reid, had once been strapped to Quentin Lyons’ favorite pool table and whipped until his back was a bloody, mangled mess, because he’d given into the temptation and screwed one of Quentin’s many paramours before the former pack master had been done with her.

Bad things.

Finn decided that what he needed was to get laid—with someone else. He needed a quick, mindless fuck with someone other than Cecilia Druthers. He’d paid another call on Daisy, but she’d given him the cold shoulder, probably because she’d just recently hooked up with someone else. The scent of lovemaking had been strong in her cottage.

He’d then wandered over to the tavern, more looking for a drink than a good time. He’d ended up with both. At least, he could, if he was willing to take Tansy up on what she offered.

“Shifters don’t really care to do it that way,” he smoothly lied, while he lifted his mug and drank deeply of a dark, thick beer.
The lightbearers sure know how to make beer
.

Tansy’s eyes widened. “Really? I thought…well, I mean, you
are
animals, aren’t you?”

“Sure. We’re mammals, just like humans and lightbearers.”

“But you can turn into animals. Cats and dogs and…
horses
.” She breathed the last word.

Her gaze dropped to his lap. Finn shifted uncomfortably. Did she think he was hung like a horse? If her expectations were that high, he probably shouldn’t take her home tonight. Otherwise they’d
both
be disappointed.

“Don’t you think cats and dogs and horses wished they could have sex some other way?” Finn suggested, and he wasn’t at all surprised when she nodded thoughtfully.

“I suppose you’re right,” she murmured. Her fingernails trailed along his arm again. He could feel the magic as she stroked him, but it wasn’t nearly as potent as Cecilia’s magic. Cecilia’s magic seared his senses, made him think of dark places and writhing bodies, made him feel half-drunk and far too tempted. Tansy simply felt like any other lightbearer with whom he’d come into contact since moving into their world.

He wondered about that. What was so different about Cecilia’s magic? Why did it have that effect on him when no one else’s did? When he’d hooked up with Daisy, it had been stimulating, the sex had been good, and he’d certainly recognized that there was magic in the air, but in truth, it hadn’t been all that much different from sleeping with a female shifter. Yet for some reason, he knew without a single doubt that sleeping with Cecilia would be anything but ordinary.

Which was a damn good reason not to do it.

“Do you want to show me your cottage?” Tansy boldly asked. Just as she spoke, Finn felt the strangest sensation, as if someone was dribbling cool water down his spine. He shuddered and turned his head toward the entrance of the tavern and was honestly not shocked when Cecilia walked through the door. He knew her presence was the reason for the curious sensation.

He was shocked, however, at the surge of jealousy he felt when he saw that she walked in with Samuel, that lightbearer guard who had been in the king’s library, asking permission to mate with her. No, he hadn’t been asking permission, Finn recalled. He’d been damn near bullying the king into mating him and Cecilia, her own personal wants and desires be damned.

He had to grip the table and grind his teeth to keep from pushing off his bar stool and striding over to the laughing, probably flirting duo. Didn’t Cecilia have any idea what sort of trap she was likely walking into? Finn had to remind himself that lightbearers weren’t quite as crass as shifters about mating. Samuel couldn’t get her drunk and incoherent and mate with her; he would have to at least seek out the king and demand the man perform some sort of ritual. That realization did little to assuage Finn’s concerns.

When Cecilia’s head shot up—did she sense him, in the same way he sensed her?—and she narrowed her eyes and looked around the tavern as if she was searching for someone, Finn whipped around on his bar stool and hunkered down over his mug of beer and wished to hell that lightbearers’ taverns were as dark as any other species’ taverns.