Saving Grace (6 page)

Georgio was a good guy and took the hint. He
also started looking at Jack with suspicion. Well-founded
suspicion, Jack knew, but he wasn’t about to reveal his attraction
to the mermaid to anyone but her. Georgio would just have to go on
speculating. At least for now.

If, and when, the time came that Jack was
able to fully claim Grace as his mate—and he still didn’t know how
that would work with her being mer and all—then everyone would
know. He’d be proud to introduce her to his Clan as his mate.

Jack helped Georgio set out some snacks and
drinks, including a tall pitcher of pure water for Grace, if she
wanted it. They sat comfortably in Georgio’s living room, but Jack
kept one ear tuned to Grace’s movements in the pool. He could hear
her splash as she got out and the tiny rustle of her clothing as
she dressed.

A few moments later, she joined them in the
living room, her hair damp and her shoulders relaxed. She looked
tired, but happy.

“How are you feeling?” Jack stood when she
entered the room and ushered her to the chair right next to
his.

“I think the worst of it is healed now. All
that’s left is to rest up a bit and regain my strength. The swim,
and the shifts, did the trick.” She leaned around Jack to catch
Georgio’s eye. “Thank you again for the use of your pool.”

Georgio waved away her thanks with a casual
smile. “Happy to help,” he murmured before lifting his beer and
taking a long sip.

Jack was happy to leave Georgio’s. The guy
was a friend, and Jack had every sympathy for the badly injured
shifter, but Jack found he didn’t want to share Grace just yet. He
wanted to keep her to himself and secure their
relationship—whatever that turned out to be—before they hung out
with any more of the Clan.

He parked his Game Warden SUV around the side
of the house, and Grace opened her own door, hopping down before he
could even get out of the driver’s seat. He followed her around to
the back of the house, where she stood on his deck, leaning against
the railing, looking out at the ocean.

She looked so wistful he wanted to go up and
put his arm around her. He wanted to pull her back against his
chest and offer his warmth to her. But he wasn’t sure where he
stood, exactly, so he tread lightly.

“Storm’s brewing out there,” he said,
standing at her side, watching the waves with her.

He’d built the house and deck high enough so
he had an unobstructed view of the ocean, while still being quite a
distance from the rocky beach. A set of stairs led down from the
other side of the deck to the ground. From there, it was a bit of a
walk to the ocean, through the tree line and then onto the sandy
soil before hitting the actual beach.

“Can you feel it?” Grace’s voice was soft as
she stared out at the building waves. “Something is stirring.”

Jack didn’t like the sound of that. And he
didn’t like the look in her eye either. A change of topic was in
order. He put one arm across her shoulders and turned her toward
the house.

“How about some dinner? I bet you worked up
an appetite with all that swimming and shifting.”

She looked up at him as if only just seeing
him. Then she smiled, and he forgot any worries he might’ve
had.

“Sure. I haven’t cooked on land in a long
time, but if you’ll help me, I might be able to repay your kindness
by trying to prepare a meal. Do you have any red meat?”

He laughed. “Red meat? I thought for sure you
were going to ask for fish.” They began walking toward the back
door, leaving the ocean, and the building storm, behind.

“Fish is better raw, when I’m in my mer form.
On land, I like steak. Or a nice, juicy hamburger with all the
fixings.” Her tinkling laughter rolled over him, drowning him in
fairy dust that felt like heaven. She had an almost intoxicating
effect on him.

“A girl after my own heart,” Jack commented
as they entered the house.

He led her right to the kitchen, and
together, they began to prepare dinner. Days were short this time
of year, and they’d spent hours at Georgio’s.

They laughed and enjoyed each other’s company
as the sun set on the turbulent waters outside. Grace was in good
spirits. Her color was better, and she moved with an ease she
hadn’t been feeling before. Jack watched her carefully for any sign
of discomfort, but found none. The swimming and shifting had done
the trick. She was in good shape, if still a bit weaker than
usual.

Jack understood that. He’d been injured
enough to know how shifting could heal a wound, but it didn’t
really replace the energy being wounded took out of a person. Only
time and rest could do that. Jack vowed he’d give her the space to
heal, and then, if she was receptive, he’d do his best to court
her.

He’d have to probe delicately to learn her
people’s beliefs about mating. He had to be cautious, just in case
it was impossible for them to be together for some arcane reason.
But everything inside him was pointing to the fact that she might
just be The One.

All through dinner and then after, when they
were making small talk before heading to bed, Grace was fighting
the compulsion rising in her. She always felt drawn to the water.
That was her mer side, wanting to go back where it was comfortable.
But this, she feared, was more…

Yet, she couldn’t articulate what it was that
had her skin itching to feel the cool, welcome mist of the sea on
her skin, and the ultimate peaceful immersion in the briny waves.
She wanted it so much her mouth was dry. She kept drinking the
delicious clear water Jack provided, but it wasn’t enough. The
ocean was calling her, and she felt compelled to answer.

Compelled. That was something new. Always
before, the choice had been hers to make, whether to stay in her
skin on land or embrace the waves and allow her scaled form to take
dominion over their shared body.

She was yawning for the third time when Jack
stood up from the couch he’d been sitting on as they talked quietly
in the living room. The entire house was beautiful, showing touches
of his artistic talent in the furnishings, the colors and the
design.

“You’re tired. You’ve had a big day. Why
don’t we call it a night?” His tone was gentle, his voice kind.

“I’m sorry. I feel so much better after the
swim, but I
am
tired,” she admitted.

“I understand. It’s the same for me after an
injury. The pain and wounds might be gone, but the effects of the
energy drain linger.”

She nodded, pleased to know they had that in
common too. The more they had talked, the more she realized they
weren’t all that much different, after all. He might be a land
dweller, but he was still a shifter, and they had many common
traits shared by all shifters.

She stood, stretching her back a bit as she
looked at him. She felt so comfortable around him after only
knowing him a short while. There was something…

She couldn’t decide what to call it.
Attraction was too mild. Familiarity wasn’t quite right either.
There was something sort of…fateful…she felt when he was near. Like
they’d done this before in another life. Like they’d spent
lifetimes together in another dimension.

She knew it was a little crazy, but that’s
how she felt. It was inexplicable. She’d seldom had such fanciful
thoughts before, but then again, the mer side of her knew it was
right. It had decided, finally, that
he
was right. Right for
her. Right for both sides of her nature.

But she was too tired to do anything about it
tonight. Rest first. Then she would explore these feelings more.
Tomorrow. When she was strong enough to deal with the consequences
of giving in to the attraction—and acting on it.

“I’m going to have an early night. Sorry I’m
not better company. You’ve been kindness itself to take me in and
help me get back on my feet,” she told him.

“Don’t mention it,” he told her, smiling
softly. “It’s the least I could do. I’m just glad I was there when
you needed me.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what
would happen if she told him she needed him all the time, but she
counseled herself to patience. She was still too beat to start
anything tonight. Instead, she reached up and gave him a peck on
the cheek before walking toward the guest room he’d given her.

“Goodnight, Jack,” she whispered, knowing he
would hear.

“Sleep tight,” he replied just as softly, and
she felt the reverberations of his voice against her sensitive skin
like a caress. It didn’t always work on land, but her whole body
could feel the vibrations in water. That her body was responding so
wholeheartedly to him meant something profound.

Tomorrow. She’d deal with it all
tomorrow.

In the middle of night, Jack woke. Something
wasn’t right. Some noise had awakened him. A noise that didn’t
belong.

Reaching for his side arm, he crept out of
bed and headed for the hallway. The moment he hit it, he felt the
breeze that should have been safely locked outside. The door to the
deck was wide open, and he could just make out the fleeting glimpse
of a white shirt exiting.

His white shirt. On Grace’s slender body. She
had walked out into the storm in nothing but his shirt, leaving the
door to the deck open. What was she doing?

Jack padded out after her, leaving his weapon
behind. He was wearing only the boxer shorts he’d put on because
she was in the house. Normally, he didn’t much care for pajamas or
any sort of covering when he slept. That preference went all the
way back to when he was a cub and he’d slept in his fur more often
than not. Nothing like wearing your own fur coat—it beat a measly
blanket any day.

He walked outside to find her just
disappearing down the stairs that led into the tree line…and
ultimately the beach. Was she going down to the water despite the
danger? He had to at least talk to her before he let her go. Even
as his heart fractured a little, he went after her, putting some
speed on to catch up with her. He had to try to convince her to
stay, no matter how much it hurt his pride. He couldn’t let her go
without at least asking—maybe even begging—her to stay.

“Grace?” he called, approaching her from
behind. They were both being pelted with rain, lightning flashes
getting closer as the storm grew. She didn’t seem to hear him.
“Grace!”

Was she ignoring him? He tried again.

“Grace!”

Jack felt a chill that wasn’t from the rain.
Something else was going on. It looked like her feet were dragging
along the ground. Her scales were rippling over her skin, trying to
burst out, but unable while she walked toward what could very well
be her doom.

As if her doom were calling her.

Sweet Mother of All.

“Grace!” He ran to catch up. She was moving
surprisingly fast along the wet sand. They’d made it through the
trees and were getting close to the rocky shore.

Jack jumped in front of her, blocking her
forward movement. She tried to go around him, but he grasped her
arms, stilling her. She kept trying to move, and he saw the pain of
struggle on her face. He couldn’t tell with the rain streaming down
on them, but he thought maybe she was crying.

“Grace, what is it? What are you doing?”

“It’s…calling me. It’s…compelling me” she
ground out, every word a trial.

“The leviathan?” he asked, already sure of
the answer. She nodded. “What can I do?”

“It’s a little better when you talk to me.”
Her words seemed to come easier, and she was looking into his eyes
now, instead of at the crashing waves just a few yards away. “I
felt it pulling me all night. It was building until…until I
couldn’t resist it anymore.”

As a bear shifter, Jack had more magic than
most other kinds of shifters, and he recognized the abrasive feel
of evil magic against his senses. It was coming from the water, and
it was aimed at Grace.

He hadn’t made a study of magic the way some
of his friends had, but a lot of it just came naturally to him. He
had the notion that only stronger, more pure magic, could
counteract the evil coming off the water. Jack’s mere presence
blocking some of it was already helping steady Grace, but he needed
more.
They
needed more.

He wondered if…

Jack bent and kissed her, taking her into his
arms, giving into the desire that had been riding him for hours
now. There was nothing purer on earth than the magic of desire…the
enchantment of love.

He could feel a shell of protective magic
forming around them as the kiss deepened. Grace wasn’t pushing him
away. On the contrary, she was pulling him closer, wrapping herself
around him as if he was her anchor in a storm-tossed sea.

Reminded of the dangerous tempest behind him,
Jack started walking them slowly back toward the tree line. He
didn’t stop kissing her. He didn’t let her out of his embrace at
all. In fact, when he grew impatient with their slow pace, he
lifted her off the ground completely and walked at his own pace
into the trees.

He felt the rage against his back, beyond the
barrier of magic they had created between them. The evil thing in
the water was pissed, but Jack would give it no satisfaction this
night.

He finally had Grace in his arms, and she
responded to him as if she, too, had been dreaming of this. If she
had, so much the better. He wasn’t going to let her go tonight. Not
when he knew she was being drawn against her will.

If he had to hold her in his arms all through
the night, then so be it. If, however, things progressed, and she
wanted him as much as he wanted her—which it looked very much like
it was the case—then he’d take her to his bed and keep her there
for as long as she let him. Hopefully, forever.