Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series) (23 page)

He grabbed my shoulders a little too tightly and held me away at arm's length, forcing me to face him. “Let me be clear.” He spoke softly but I could feel tension and frustration rolling off of him. “If you continue to throw yoursel
f at me, I'll eventually cave. I may have lived over two hundred years, but physically, I’m a healthy nineteen year old male with a strong libido."

Who apparently didn't want me.
His words bit into my heart. I began to tremble, so he pulled me closer to stroke my hair, trying to be reassuring. “You’ve gone through a lot of crap, some of it sexual abuse. You need time to heal, my love.”

“You'
ve healed me.” A tear ran down my cheek and he caught it with his finger as if it was something precious. “You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted to touch me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to be touched again.” I looked away from him, embarrassed by my confession.

“Come into the living room and sit with me.” He took my hand and I followed him reluctantly. Some of my old uncertainty started spinning in my mind. It was clear that he didn’t
want me the way I wanted him. I’d practically thrown myself at him and he’d refused. What did I expect? I wasn’t a virgin. He probably thought that I was damaged beyond repair. Maybe I was.

A few more tears ra
ced each other down my cheeks. We sat in front of the fire and he put both of his arms around me and spoke softly into my hair, “I’m not rejecting you. Please don’t take it that way.” He whispered, obviously having read my anxiety. “I love you and I want you to trust me.” He turned my face so I was forced to look at him. “You’re so beautiful and strong: incredible in so many ways.” He ran his knuckles along my jaw and then gently over my lips. ”I only want us to wait until you’re ready.” He nuzzled my ear and ran his lips down my neck. “You’re worth waiting for.”

I hugged him and buried my head in his chest. Tears started flowing more freely until I was sobbing uncontrollably, all of my anxiety pouring out in streams. He held me and whispered words of love and encouragement. I didn’t know exactly why I was crying, only that I felt safe doing it with him. Somehow, I didn’t feel like a loser or a freak when I opened my heart to him.

We held each other in front of the fire and after some prodding from Garrett, I finally felt able to talk about the foster father who’d beaten me and his seventeen year old son who’d raped me. I talked about it more calmly than I thought possible, but Garrett could feel my terror, and guilt as if they were his own. Rage built in him. I reached out with my mind. “
If you kill these men to avenge me, then I’ll feel responsible for their deaths. Please don’t look for them. They aren’t fostering children anymore."

I could feel his emotions spinning between fury and concern. He sighed and pulled me into his lap, turning my face toward his. I tried to turn away, knowing that my eyes looked red and puffy and my hair was an ugly tangle, but I couldn’t twist out of his firm grip. “I cried all over your shirt. I probably ruined it.” I wiped my face with the tissue he handed me. “

“It’s just a shirt.” He smiled gently and ran his hand through my hair then over to my shoulder and down my bare arm finally grasping my hand in his and kissing my palm. “Ma joli guepard,
my lovely cheetah
. I love you even when your eyes are a little red and your hair is messy or when you’re too stubborn to listen to my excellent advice.” He kissed my nose. “But I especially love you when you trust me enough to speak from your heart and cry on my shirt.” I clutched at his soggy shirt and pulled him toward me, the taste of my tears mingling with his delicious lips. I opened my mouth, needing the tangible reassurance of his love and he responded with passion.

When we pulled apart, I sp
ent a moment enjoying the aftershocks. That kiss was… Well, how do you describe physical seismic upheaval? After opening my heart and talking about my most painful experiences, our emotional connection seemed to have strengthened, allowing me to feel every solid wave of his love for me. At first it covered me gently like a soft warm blanket but when the electricity got plugged in, I was on fire everywhere. Maybe my heart was never going to slow down again.

Garrett played with my hand and smiled his sexy smile. I was probably broadcasting my emotions out to Mars. “It doesn't matter to you? You still love me.” After the rape, I'd believed that I was never going to f
ind someone who could love me, damaged the way I was.

“For all time, my love.”
He smiled. "It’s almost dawn.” He got up gracefully and led me to my room.

“So where do you sleep?”

“In my bed; no coffin required.” He laughed. “The windows have metal shades that seal. My door is strong and locks automatically so no one can get in. I’m quite secure. The house is fireproof as well. If you go out with Rob and the team, leave me a note. Please don’t go out alone, at least not until everything is resolved. There’s a key to the house in the top drawer of my desk. I should be up by around 3:00 PM. I’ll drive you to Maya.” He hugged and kissed me gently and I melted against him.

He still felt so warm. “How is it that you don’t need to feed? You had such a small amount of my energy.”

He smiled a sly smile. “Those bears will probably oversleep this morning.” He winked and closed the door. I flashed on him shaking their hands after the meeting, telling them that he wanted to start with a clean slate. I had to laugh as I undressed and crawled under the covers of my comfy new bed, feeling safe and loved.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Around 12:30 PM the next day, after showering and dressing, I called Rob from my cell to see if he wanted to come over for brunch. He was happy about the invitation and said he’d be at Garrett’s house in twenty minutes.

I walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks. There was a young man I didn’t recognize watering the plants near the window. He was my height with extraordinarily vibrant purple eyes, a heart shaped face, thin lips and a slightly turned up nose.  His shoulder length golden hair floated around his head as if a steady breeze blew through the room from all directions. Recognizing the warm buzz, I connected to the lines and saw thick tendrils of energy wrapping around him, flashing in a rainbow of colors.  He looked lovely and almost delicate, but I knew better than to underestimate anyone who could pull in that much power. And he was just watering plants.

He turned to look at me and smiled warmly, his hair settling back down. “You must be Miss Jacqueline. It is very nice to finally meet you. I am Liam.” His voice was delightfully musical and soothing. He wore a light blue button down shirt with the sleeves partly rolled up
, and jeans. He was barefoot.

I didn’t quite know what to say, but managed a, “Nice to meet you too, Liam.” I was at a total loss. Was this one of the people that Garrett fed from? Was he from some paranormal cleaning service? He noticed my confusion and smiled a little wider.
He really is adorable when he smiles.

“I guard
Master Garrett every day while he rests and I also clean and cook when he has guests. I am Fae: Half Seelie, of the Cascade Sidhe.

I started laughing and had to turn away before I made a total ass of myself. “Well, it would have been nice of him to let me know that you’d be here, “I chuckled. “He did tell me last night that elves cleaned up the mess, but I thought he was joking, no offence, Liam.”

“No offence taken. Miss Jacqueline. There is only me and I will be gone shortly after Master Garrett wakes.” He took two hesitant steps in my direction. I think he was trying not to scare me.  “Would you like me to cook something for you?”

My mind whirled with happiness around the idea of someone else cooking brunch so I asked. “Can you make omelets and ham or bacon? I have a hungry guest
coming. Oh, and coffee please?“

“Of course.”  He seemed pleased to be asked to cook, not something Garrett asked him to do too often, I guessed. I decided to take a look outside the patio doors to see what the weather was like. The back garden was delightful and the sunshine spreading over the patio reached out with a comforting blanket of warmth. There was a table and four chairs placed adjacent to white and red rose bushes, some calla lilies, lilacs and a small fountain. Around the borders was a large patc
h of multicolored wildflowers. I decided to eat outside so I went back to let Liam know.

Rob arrived ten minutes later and I escorted him to the patio where Liam had placed a carafe of coffee, a small pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice an
d some fresh fruit salad. We sipped coffee and chatted about the lovely weather, my various adventures on Solo Island and my move to Garrett’s house. Liam glided in gracefully bearing omelets, toast, bacon and ham. He greeted Rob with a nod, wished us bon appetite and left to clean up the kitchen, hair floating in the air around him.

We both chuckled watching him leave. I said, “Liam was unexpected.”

“He’s been with Garrett for over a hundred years. I don’t know the whole story, but I know that Garrett helped Liam’s half brother, Aedus, out of a bad situation. Since then, Liam’s father, Lord Caelen, a powerful fae elder, has become an ally and Liam has pledged service to Garrett.”  He turned back to look at me and I must have seemed confused because he laughed. “Garrett will explain it all. The fae are a complicated race." He took a bite of food. "You know, it does make sense for you to stay here, you’ll be safer and he’ll be a lot less stressed out.”

We both dug in as I puzzled over what Rob had said.
“Does he stress out a lot?"

"He takes on too much responsibility, as if the whole community were under only his protection. I worry about him." He smiled at me. "I think I'll be worrying less."

"Do you know what the third part of the bonding ritual is? Garrett hasn’t said.”

“The ritual for shifters and weres is very similar, but I’m not sure about vampires. Shifters, first claim their mate, then share a kill during the full moon, and the last part
is a ceremony in front of the council and the community. For weres, males fight to claim a mate, very violent, then the couple shares a kill and has sex during the full moon, then there’s another bloody ceremony led by the pack leader. Weres always take everything to the extreme.” He smiled wryly. “I think you should just ask Garrett about the vampire ritual.”

I watched him as he sipped his coffee and stared at the trees. “Do you have a mate, Rob?”

“Not anymore.” Pain tightened his mouth and narrowed his eyes.  “When I’d recovered from the torture, I decided to stay here in town. I took a job with a construction company and got an apartment. Lynette was an instructor at the local school and we started dating. We were crazy about each other and so we went through the ritual, married and planned to have a family. But then the werewolf who’d originally imprisoned me found out where we lived. He kidnapped her. He was angry that he’d been strong armed into letting me go.”

“What happened?”
I was afraid to ask, but felt he deserved my support if he wanted to talk about such a painful part of his life.

“He kille
d her. Then Garrett killed him. Slowly.”

“I’m so sorry, Rob.” I put my hand on his.

“It was 55 years ago. I still miss her every day.” He sighed. His eyes were moist. Liam came out to clear away the plates and to see if we wanted anything else. I got up and went over to Rob to give him a hug and he patted my back. “Thanks, Jackie. You’re so easy to talk to. That’s a gift, you know.”

Liam was clearing away the last of the dishes when he turned to say, “Her aura is a rich green, Robert. It is her nature.” He walked away and we both stared after him feeling more than a little confused. Robert laughed and he kissed me lightly on the cheek.

“While the cat’s away, Rob?”  Garrett was standing by the patio door grinning and looking as handsome as usual wearing only black jeans and holding his shirt. Yum

“We’re all cats here, Garrett. The mice live two towns over.” They cracked up and I rolled my eyes.
Ugh. Corny shifter humor
. “Anyway, if I wanted to play, you wouldn't be able to take the competition.” He jokingly tried to put an arm around my shoulder, but I ducked out just in time, pushing him away playfully.

“That depends on the game.”

"My Sicilian good looks would win-over the signora." he winked at me.

“Have y
ou looked in a mirror, Robert? You dress like a lumberjack. I don't think your ancestors would approve. In case you haven't heard, some of the best designers live in Italy."

"And what about when you vamp out?” returned Rob, sticking his fing
ers out like fangs and hissing.

By now we were all laughing and the somber mood brought on by Rob’s tale had reversed completely. I wondered if Garrett had heard what we were talking about
and had wanted to cheer Rob up.

I was shocked to see that he was standing directly in the sun and didn’t seem to be affected at all. I sent, “Don’t you feel weaker in the sun? Doesn’t it burn you?”

“If I was in the direct sun for an hour or so, it would kill me, but a few minutes feel great. Older vampires can tolerate the rays for longer. I miss it."

Rob said, “Well now that you’re up and my plans to steal Jackie away have fallen apart, This lumberjack will be leaving. Next
time I'll bring my chain saw.” He gave me another quick kiss on the cheek, thanked me for brunch, gave Garrett a playful punch on the shoulder and left.