“You okay?” No answer because…cat. “All right. Come on.” I started for the house, cradling the cat—cradling my mate—against my body. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a shifter, Brent? I was trying to figure out how to explain being a dragon to you. Didn’t you say you were human?”
The cat purred as I realized he of course had not said he was human. I had just assumed. We all had. But we’d never actually asked him. Had he been struggling with trying to tell me about being a shifter without knowing I was?
That joke he’d made about me having a cape or wings? Had it been more of a hint than a joke?
Until he took his skin, I was going to have a hard time finding out.
Can you talk to the cat?I asked my dragon.
Not yet. Mate.
Yeah. I get that.
My dragon had two interests. Our mate and his hoard.
When we went inside, my mate still showed no signs of shifting back to his skin, and, at a loss, I found my phone in my pants pocket and called Sothea. It went right to voice mail. He probably had it on sleep mode.
Then I called my friend from work…same.
The sun would be rising soon, and the fact that no fire units had come to check out the blaze surprised me. We were quite a ways from other houses, but the smoke should have carried even in the short time before I put it out. I wasn’t crazy about the fact that nobody had noticed and called. I would report it, but since it was out and I didn’t want to explain how that had been accomplished, I’d have to inspect and try to find out how it started. Look for someone who might be camping on my land.
I didn’t have it all fenced, but it was posted, and there should be nobody on it without permission. What if I hadn’t awakened? Still holding the cat, my mate, I was chilled to the bone to think of what might have happened. Subtle rage sent heat through mybloodstream, and my dragon pushed at me, wanting out to find who had started the fire.
If it was accidental, we’d have a talk with them, remind them of the private property signs and promise legal action if they returned. But if I had any reason to believe it was not accidental? My dragon was not very forgiving about such things.
Not where it concerned our mate.
But for now, I was exhausted, a common reaction after dealing with a fire of such a large size. I needed to rest and recuperate. Filthy, I gave myself a sponge bath far too weary to shower, but not able to go to bed like this. The cat was pretty bad, too, and I used a clean, damp washcloth to wipe his fur. “Mate, I wish you’d shift back so we could talk. Not that I don’t like your cat. I do, very much and am glad to meet you, kitty. Now that I know we’re both shifters, we have more in common than I thought.
“Maybe you won’t shift because you’re too tired too? That fire was exhausting, wasn’t it?” I just kept talking to him as I got us both ready for bed. If I wasn’t so sure he was my mate, it might feel odd, but it was comforting to talk to him. Nice if he could talk back, of course, but it was also lovely to be with him in his other form. “Who’d have guessed you were a cat shifter. You sure kept it to yourself.”
In the bedroom, I set the cat on the foot of the bed, pulled the covers back, and crawled in. Tucking them around my chin, I closed my eyes. “Sleep well, mate. Hopefully we can talk in the morning.”
Chapter Fourteen
Brent
I woke up in a patch of sunlight on top of a blanket, but where? Last night felt like a psychedelic dream. All shards of colors and smells and sounds. Crackling and ashes. Nothing that made sense. A glance around revealed that I was at Theo’s place.
Last thing I remembered for sure was making love. We’d had dinner together, I thought. A really nice evening, although he’d acted like he had something on his mind. I’d waited for him to tell me what it was and then shrugged it off, deciding he’d speak when he was ready.
And then…all that dreaming. But so vivid.
And why was I lying on Theo instead of under the covers with him. He was sleeping, soft, even breaths coming from his lips. I needed to use the restroom but didn’t want to wake him, so I carefully slid to the side and off.
The other times I’d been here, he always woke instantly when I moved, but this time, he did not. Poor guy must be exhausted. Tiptoeing to the bathroom, I wondered again how I’d ended up on top of the covers. Not because it was hot. Even with the sunlight, it was still pretty chilly, and I looked forward to climbing in next to Theo and enjoying his body heat.
Maybe I’d gotten up during the night? Had I been outside? I took care of business then noticed a couple of washcloths on the side of the sink. A rank, smoky odor came from them. We didn’t barbecue. Maybe Theo used them after work. And was so tired, he hadn’t even had a chance to deal with them. In fact, there was a lingering stank in the air. I hadn’t noticed it the night before, but maybe it was part of being a firefighter sometimes. I’d have to learn to deal with it because Theo was worth it. And maybe the smell was why I had a dream with smoke.
Satisfying my brain with that solution, I rinsed with mouthwash and returned to bed. When I slipped under the covers, Theo mumbled something, but I just snuggled close and he settled back in to rest. Which sounded good to me too. I might not be a firefighter, but I was pretty tired and achy.
Hours later, I woke up again in the right place. Lying on my side with my alpha warm against my back, his thigh over mine. I sighed, content.
“You’re finally awake.” He trailed fingers over my shoulder. “I thought you were going to sleep all day. Not that I can blame you after what happened last night.”
“Mmm.” I patted his hand. “You were wonderful.”
He was quiet for a minute then said, “Thank you, you were too, but that wasn’t what I meant.”
