“I’m fine. Silas neglected to tell me we were opening the show. You caught me off guard.”
“Don’t tell me you’re nervous. We’ve been doing this dance since we were children.”
“I remember.”
“Please, Laina. You’re the only partner I’m comfortable with.” He lowered his lips to the back of her hand. They were warm and soft, too soft. Cameron was attractive. He had the long, lean physique that was typical of a werewolf and a face that belonged in a Hollywood blockbuster. But he was also gay. Blazingly gay with shooting rainbow stars that followed him everywhere. Gay enough that even his wolf had gay tendencies. He’d come out to her when they were both seventeen, trusting that their tight friendship could endure the shared secret. Of course, she’d accepted him fully and supported him throughout their young adulthood. Still, now that he was one of the society’s most eligible bachelors, the steward of Rivergate Manor, and alpha of Rivergate pack, it was harder than ever for him to avoid suspicion. She was the only partner he could dance with because she was safe, a genuine and true pillar of support.
“I’d never turn down a dance with you. Lead the way.” She collected herself, raising her chin and straightening her back. She hated Silas for forcing this on her, but she wouldn’t take it out on her friend.
Cameron grasped her hand and led her to the center of the dance floor, where he pulled her against his body, free hand landing in the groove of her back. A string quartet in the corner of the room broke into a traditional folk song called “The Rose and Her Thorn.” The dance they would perform was unique to their kind, similar to a tango but more violent. The movements told the story of star-crossed lovers entangled in a volatile affair, constantly teetering between the heat of passion and the fire of rage.
Cameron bent over her, dragging his teeth up the skin of her neck. Laina snaked her leg around his and shoved against his chest, following his big, dramatic steps backward across the floor. They’d practiced this dance hundreds of times as teens; she could do it in her sleep. Still, Cameron caught her twice when the height of her new heels caused her to miss a step. Despite the errors, when they ended with her dramatically sagging into his chest, a move that represented her death in the arms of her lover, the room erupted in applause.
“I’m glad you came tonight, Laina. You don’t come to Rivergate Manor often enough,” Cameron whispered in her ear as he helped her to her feet again.
“I was just here a few days ago for the shift. I’m here once a month for the full moon.”
“But I miss your nonfurry friendship.”
“I’m only as far as my animal hospital in Carlton City. Come in any time. I’ll stick a thermometer up your ass and check you for fleas.”
He chuckled. “It’s nice to have you around. You don’t know how dark things have been here because of Alex.”
“You’re too close to the politics. You need to find a vocation outside the pack. It’s important to self-protect.”
“Hard to do when you’re the alpha responsible for maintaining safe shifting grounds.” When she paused to think about it, Cameron’s position was more limiting than her own. As owner of Rivergate Manor, he was ultimately responsible for the mansion and its surrounding acres of protected woods—the perfect place to exercise their monthly curse without interfering with humans. Cameron had become alpha the same way Silas had; his parents had been murdered at the same time and place, shot to death in a crowded theater by a madman they would later learn was Alex Ravien Bloodright. And, just like Silas, he’d been thrust into the position far too young.
“Your parents would be proud of you,” Laina said.
He smiled weakly. “Come on. I’ll show you what I’ve done in the garden.” He led her, arm in arm, through the halls and out the glass doors to the grounds behind the manse. They strolled along a stone walkway that snaked between newly planted flowering trees and shrubs.
“It smells amazing,” she said.
“I did that on purpose. Once we’ve shifted, we’ll always know where home is by the scent.”
“It’s brilliant, Cameron.” She ran her fingers over the plate-sized bloom of a potted hibiscus.
“Are you cold?” He offered her his jacket.
The early evening held a late-September chill, but she wasn’t uncomfortable. She shook her head.
“I have a confession to make. I didn’t bring you out here to show you the flowers.”
“No?”
“I want to ask you something, and I hope you will take my question in the spirit in which it is offered.” He placed a hand on her elbow, and she stopped to give him her full attention.
“What are you asking?”
“Will you marry me?”
She almost swallowed her tongue. A fit of coughing overtook her, and she held her chest as she tried to catch her breath. He thumped her back until she regained her composure.
“Are you joking?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but it would solve both our problems. You could do whatever you wanted to do, whenever you wanted to do it. You could run your veterinary hospital. If you didn’t want children, I’d lie and say we were trying. No one would know the difference. If you wanted kids, we could make that happen too. It wouldn’t be easy for me.” He glanced away from her and pointed his fingers at his lower torso. “I’ve never been with a woman. But I hear there are ways. Medical ways.”
“And, I take it, part of your plan is pursuing your personal desires on the side as well?”
