“The universe has decreed that we hook up?” Diana said faintly.
Calvin swallowed heavily. “Well… not in those terms, exactly. Each shifter has a mate somewhere in the world – a person who is meant just for them. Most shifters don’t ever find their mate, and they can live happy lives with other people of their choosing. But when you meet your mate, well…”
“It’s like sparks fly when you touch them,” Diana said, realizing suddenly the meaning of the electric hum she could feel under her skin whenever she and Calvin touched. She could feel it now, where his fingers brushed her face. It was a comforting sensation.
It felt like home.
Calvin paused, before shaking his head ruefully, laughing a little at himself. “Well, that went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.”
“Have you been stewing over this since yesterday?” said Diana with a laugh. “Not that I can blame you, really – itisa lot for me to take in. Probably I’ll be eating dinner tonight and then suddenly it’ll hit me that I’m – I’mmatedto a gorgeous, kind guy who can turn into a scaly beast and make popsicles with his breath.”
“You make me sound so appealing,” Calvin said, smiling. “Meanwhile, I’m mated to the most wonderful, smart, beautiful woman in the world,andshe has a wonderful child that I’d love to get to know better.” His expression became more serious. “That is, as long as you’re happy with me spending more time with Ash? And he’s happy with it?”
“He’s happy, believe me,” Diana said, almost deliriously pleased at how well her day was going. “He really likes you.”
Calvin looked relieved. “I’m so glad to hear that. He’s a really good kid. Though I worry he’s going to be running rings around me – I barely even know what a cryptic crosswordis.”
Diana’s heart soared. Calvin really was beyond perfect.
She grinned. “Bella loves you too, by the way. She was so sad when you left – she was waiting at the door for hours.”
“Poor Bella,” Calvin murmured. “I’ll have to bring her a treat, to apologize for my hasty departure.”
“I’m sure she won’t say no to that,” Diana said. “She’s very partial to cheese, by the way.” Slyly she added, “As am I.”
“Noted.”
Diana sighed happily, relaxing once more against Calvin’s broad chest and just letting him hold her.
“Okay,” she said, closing her eyes and enjoying his warmth. “So: you can turn into a dragon – sorry, a wyvern. You have thepower to make things cold. And you’re fated to spend your life with me.”
She opened her eyes and tilted her chin up, giving him a cheeky grin. “That sounds like enough secrets to reveal for one day, doesn’t it? There’s nothing else you’ve got up your sleeve? No obscure weaknesses that can fell you with a single blow? No murderous family members who’ll be coming after me because I’m not a shifter?”
Instead of the expected reassuring laugh, there was silence.
Diana resisted the urge to slap herself on the forehead.
Comeon.You’ve got to be kidding me.
“What is it?” she asked, pulling back a little and holding his gaze with her best no-nonsense look. “Spit it out. It can’t be any more of a shock than anything else you’ve told me.”
I hope,she silently added.
Calvin shuffled awkwardly, then cleared his throat.
“I really hate to bring this up after everything else I just told you,” he said, looking way more embarrassed than a man his age had any right to look. “But, well… I think I might be under a curse.”
Chapter 10
There. I said it. Now there’s nothing left to do but see how she responds.
Calvin waited, the anticipation like a physical itch under his skin.
He didn’tthinkthat Diana would be too weirded out by any of this – thiscursebusiness. She’d taken everything well so far – remarkably well, really. He could never in a million years have expected things to go as smoothly as they had.
Maybe the mate bond, the connection that even she, being human, could sense between them, had helped smooth the way.
But a curse? Itwaskind of silly. Calvin himself still wasn’t quite sure he could believe that he might be under a curse, and he was someone who dealt with the extraordinary on a daily basis… so he wouldn’t blame Diana if this was too much for her to take in.
