Shifters' Captive:Magical Menages 1(28)

She drew a rough, hiccupping breath, and her mouth trembled before she  buried her face against his chest again and another bout of sobs shook  her.

"I'm so sorry." John felt helpless spouting useless platitudes and  rubbing her back. He couldn't do anything to fix things or help her be  any less upset. "I wish I could find out for you." A thought suddenly  occurred to him. "Maybe there is a way. Our psychic, Anna. Sometimes she  only catches glimpses of things, but other times-like with pointing you  out as our savior-her visions are very specific. Perhaps she can see  something about you, an aura that will tell whether your father was  George Blake or not."

"Is that his name?" She looked up at him again. "Is he even still alive,  does anyone know? According to Evan, the grandparents who raised him  are dead now, so I can't ask them any questions."

"I don't think anyone knows, but we'll try to find out. I'll do anything  I can to help you learn what you want to know." He turned off the  water, opened the door and got a towel which he wrapped around Sherrie's  shoulders. Then he grabbed one for himself, briskly drying his hair and  body.         

     



 

When they were both dry and snug in bed again, John resumed his train of  thought. "We'll figure out your family history together and try to  learn what powers you possess. If your dad really is a shifter, you  could have more latent abilities."

"Thank you," Sherrie said. "I'm sorry for being such a Weepy Wilma. It's not like me."

"You have every right to be upset. Hell, most people would be curled up  in a fetal position whimpering by now. I think you're amazingly strong."

"Really?" Her smile was almost shy … and delightful. John looked forward to learning all her smiles.





Chapter Twelve


Grant paused to lick his torn shoulder before loping the last hundred  yards to Marina's cabin in the clearing. His body ached from whiskers to  tail, but he had to see her in the flesh before he rested. On the front  porch of the house, he shifted to human form. Giving only a quick rap  on the door, he entered.

The place was dark, the windows letting in little of the late afternoon  sunlight. He strode through the room to Marina's bedroom, again giving  only a perfunctory tap before opening the door.

She lay in bed, face pale and eyes closed just the way he'd last seen  her. Sonia Taylor, Marina's nearest neighbor who lived about ten miles  away, sat beside the bed reading a mystery novel. She glanced up at  Grant and took off her reading glasses.

"She's better," the woman announced without waiting for his question.  "She's been awake. This is a normal sleep now. Reports have been coming  in from around the area. All the coma victims are waking up except Greg  Vincent and Audrey Goins. Both of them died suddenly late yesterday  afternoon." Her mouth was a grim line. "What happened, Grant?"

He gazed at Marina's strong-boned face. The shadows beneath her eyes  made her look at least a dozen years older than she was. "I found the  girl I dreamed about. A human. A waitress named Sherrie Stoltz." The  words said so little about who Sherrie actually was. They didn't convey  her bright spirit or her powerful inner strength. "Along with a member  of the wolf clan, we were able to … create a psychic power strong enough  to defeat the man controlling the coma victims," he succinctly explained  about Evan Blake.

"You let the wolves have him?" Sonia rose and glared at him, eyes narrowed. "You should've killed him."

"I know," Grant agreed. "But it's not too late. For the sake of peace,  let the wolves have their trial and mete out their brand of justice.  When they're finished, we'll deliver ours." Sonia growled and nodded  then turned to look at Marina. "She's slept enough over the past weeks.

Why don't you wake her up and say hello?"

She put her glasses and book in her huge handbag then approached Grant  and touched the gashes on his bare arm. "Looks like the wolf took a  chunk out of you." He didn't bother to explain about the mountain lion.  It was too embarrassing to admit he'd nearly been bested by a common  animal.

Sonia patted him on the ass before walking from the room. After she was  gone, Grant went to Marina's bedside and sat on the mattress. He leaned  over her and breathed in her familiar scent-spicy and potent.

"Wake up, Mar," he ordered, lifting her hand and rubbing his cheek against it. "Come on now. Don't be lazy."

Ever submissive, except when she wasn't in the mood, Marina obeyed his  command and opened her striking iris-blue eyes. "You are here." Her  thick Russian accent made the rolling R's as rich and heavy as beef  stroganov.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"Verrry bad. Weak. But you are here now. I feel betterrr," she purred.

"He's gone. He can't hurt you again," Grant promised and made a silent vow to himself to make certain that was true.

She reached out and stroked his damaged shoulder as Sonia had done. "You are hurt."

"A little, but mostly I'm damn tired. Too tired to go all the way home. Mind if I sleep here for awhile?"

"You are always welcome in my bed. You know that. Come. Rest." He sighed  as he crawled beneath the covers and snuggled against her warm body.  Marina licked his shoulder then breathed deeply of his skin. "You smell  like wolf and human … and sex. What you been up to, Grrrant?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." His voice was muffled against  her warm skin, and already his consciousness was slipping away.

"I will be verry interested to hear such a strange tale." She stroked  him with her soft, wet tongue once more, and that was the last thing  Grant remembered.         

     



 



Lydia Cox held out her hand to Sherrie. "Welcome. I'm so glad you could  come. Liberty's been looking forward to meeting you. We should've had  you sooner, but we wanted to make sure she was fully recovered."

"I'm looking forward to meeting her too. Although I feel a little like I  already know her. The night I held her hand, I didn't tell you the  truth," Sherrie admitted. "I met her … inside her mind. Saw what she'd  seen and got an impression of the man who was holding her hostage. I  didn't want to scare you, so I only told John later, after we left."

Mrs. Cox nodded and gripped her hand tighter. "All that matters is that  you saved our little girl." She nodded toward her husband standing  behind her in the entryway of their house. "Brian and I …  Our entire  family is in your debt. Anything you want or need … "

Sherrie smiled. "To tell the truth, all I really want is a friend or two  in this town. People are polite to me. They're all so grateful. But  I've been here over a week now and, other than John, I don't really know  anyone yet."

Lydia returned her smile, teeth flashing against her brown skin. "You  have friends in this house, and I'll introduce you around. Our people  can be slow to accept strangers, but once they do, you'll become one of  their own."

The Coxes ushered Sherrie and John into the house to the living room  where Liberty sat on the couch with her brother R.J. playing a video  game. When she glanced up and saw Sherrie, she dropped the controller  and jumped off the couch. Her dark eyes shone as she walked quickly  across the room. Then she appeared to grow suddenly shy and stopped a  few feet in front of Sherrie.

"Hi." She dipped her chin, not quite meeting her eyes.

Sherrie gave a reassuring smile. "Hi. How're you feeling?"

"Okay."

"Good. That was some pretty scary stuff, huh? Freaked me out." The  little girl risked a glance at her. "I know you?" It was half statement,  half question.

"Yeah, I think maybe you do. I was poking around inside your head a little, but I didn't look at any secrets, I swear."

Liberty flashed a grin.

"What you playing?" Sherrie asked. "I love Xbox."

The girl shrugged. "One of my brother's dumb sports games. But if you want, we could play DDR.

My parents won't buy a Wii. DDR is a really old game, but I still like  to play, sometimes, only no one ever wants to do it with me."

"Sure. That's the one where you dance, right? Show me what to do and I'll dance you into the ground, sister."

Liberty giggled. "I don't think so."

As the girl scampered away to pull the plug on her brother's game and  set up her own, Sherrie winked at John. It was easy to make friends with  a kid. And now that she had the Cox family on her side, maybe she could  make some inroads into the community.

In the week she'd lived here, she found the people polite but distant,  perhaps concerned about her connection with Evan Blake. She'd seen the  house he'd grown up in and had visited the graves of her possible  grandparents, Steve and Amanda Blake, but she didn't feel any connection  or sudden recognition.