Birthday Shift (3 page)

Chapter Three

“Molly…?
Molly….?”

Molly woke with a
start to the sensation of being held by strong arms. A woodsy scent filled the
air around her, and her cheek against a firm, sparsely haired stomach.

Cade.

But wait-

She sprang up
immediately, her muscles responding as one to the huge surge of panic that rose
within her.

“Get away from
me! You’re insane. You need help.” She forced the words out even as her head
span with dizziness from getting up too fast.

And yet he simply
sat there, dark green eyes fixed on her, expression calm, exuding gentleness
and…sex appeal.

Molly took a deep
breath, her body still in flight stance, and stared back at him.

For a few long
moments, nothing happened.

And then, like
the sun slowly rising over a mountain, she realized something.

I’ve been out cold for goodness knows how long, and
he’s still here. He hasn’t taken anything. He hasn’t fled. He hasn’t hurt me.

And he could have.

At that exact
moment, something else dawned on her.

I’m not afraid of him.

“Okay.” She did
fold her arms, though, because, oddly, her fingers itched with the desire to
touch him, to see just how real her dream lover had become… if indeed he had
been. She kept her distance, because she didn’t yet understand why she didn’t
feel afraid. “Explain.”

“Again, I am
surprised that Alianore didn’t tell you.”

Molly huffed. “Who
is that?”

“Your friend.” He
raised an eyebrow, and she found the gesture unwittingly charming. “I believe
you call her by another, human world name… Lil.”

“Oh.” Molly
digested this. It was true that she’d never asked Lil her full name. But… “So…”
She pressed her hands to her head, which felt like it span in wide circles. “I
don’t get it. How do you know her? Who
are
you?”

“I’m Cade.” He
reached out to touch her, but, unafraid yet still very wary, and very much
feeling that she had entered the twilight zone, she moved away. “I’m a
shape-shifter.”

Molly felt rather
than knew that her mouth fell open. “Okay. Now I know I’m still out cold. I’m
going to wake up any minute now.” She pinched her arm, waited to find herself
in her bed, shaking off the dream…

She felt the
pinch.

What…?

“I’m as real as
you are, and so are my abilities,” Cade assured her. Again, his voice, smooth
as Italian coffee, washed over her, filling all the little cracks his
confession had opened up in her mind. “I can show you.” He started to stand.

“No! God no!”
Molly covered her eyes. “I mean, not yet. I’m… I’m not used to the idea, let
alone…” She sighed, hugging herself, desperately wanting to wake up and find it
had all been a very, very strange dream. “Tell me about Lil instead. I still don’t…
I don’t understand. Why are you here, with me?”

“Let me explain.”
He moved to sit on the couch and patted the spot beside him, the tea towel
still inadequately covering his modesty. “Won’t you sit beside me?”

Molly’s battered
mind tried to reconcile the image of her pet cat with the glorious male
specimen sitting on her couch. Her brain failed, and simply struggled to think
in a straight line. “I can’t. Sorry. Not yet.”

“All right.” He
tried to move the tea towel to cover more of his groin, but eventually gave up.
“Alianore runs a sort of otherworldly portal… if you will. A way for beings
from the Faewild, such as shape shifters, spirits and succubae to enter your
world, if and when they want to. It’s easier for shape shifters, because they
can change themselves into the likenesses of creatures you humans don’t fear,
such as cats. Like the cat you found on your doorstep. Me.”

Molly tried to
swallow it all, but the story was a big mouthful. “But… why
 
would you come here?”

“It is… what is
your human word? Complicated. The Fae are a large number of people, a whole
world’s worth. We are a wide and varied people, but the majority of us do not,
as I do, shape shift. Our varied abilities caused…. Division between our
peoples and so the government felt it best to separate us. They gave us our own
realm in the Faewild, but as you can imagine, this is restricting. We are not
permitted to cross the border into the other Fae lands such as Caroann.”

Molly struggled
to keep up as he continued, wishing she had a recorder so she could play it
back and piece together his words.

“Of course, there
are only so many Fae in the Faewild, and inbreeding can taint and twist our
abilities. So, the government permitted us to cross over into the human world
to find mates.”

Here Holly held
up a hand. “Wait. Wait, wait.” She needed a strong drink. “Why the human
world?”

Cade smiled that
quick deadly charming smile again. “Of all the known worlds, it is the most
accepting of different races. Humans are also the race we Fae find most attractive
in otherworldly mates. This is perfectly showcased in your beautiful face and
body.”

Pleasure flushed
in Molly that he thought that, but she forced herself to stay on track. “All
right, say I’m buying this. So how do you get into the human world and what
does my friend have to do with it all?”

“As I mentioned
before, Alianore runs an otherworldly portal, a way to get into our world.” He
paused to rake a hand through his thick dark hair, a very human gesture. “As a
realmbinder, she’s very powerful, and also-”

“Stop stop stop.”
Molly didn’t know if she could take in any more. “Let’s leave the mumbo jumbo
for now, shall we? Let’s skip to something I might have a chance of
understanding.” Her gaze drifted to his beautifully formed chest, down over the
taut, golden skin…

She closed her
eyes.
Don’t look.
“Just tell me what
Lil said about me.”

“She told me she
cared for you a great deal,” Cade explained, at length. “She wanted you to be
happy, and said you did not have a lot of… what’s the word you humans use… luck
with human men.”

“Oh. Well.” Lost
for words now, Molly had to admit that Lil hadn’t been lying, at least not
then. “So is she… how does it work? I mean, the real world… this world..” she
pressed her hands to her head again, feeling that her brain might leak through
her ears if he continued to spout such fantastical tales.

How could it be real?

Cade knew what
she wanted to ask, even if she didn’t. “You might know about her pet rescue
centre?”

“Yeah.” A little
more relaxed now things looked as if they might be explained clearer, Molly
inched closer to the couch. “In her house. What’s it called…Realmbound.” An odd
name, Molly had thought, but it sort of suited the creaky old nature of the
house Lil lived in, and she’d assumed Lil hadn’t named the house originally.

“The big old
building, yes. Alianore wanted the business to have such a name that otherworldly
creatures would know what it did. For example shapeshifters are bound to their
animal form until they can enter the dreams of the person with whom they're
trying to connect. With you, it was easy, because you were so affectionate with
me from the start. I am hoping,” he added, in a low undertone, “that you might
one day treat me so affectionately again.”

The memory of his
touch in her dreams sent a sudden gush of need through Molly’s body and she
inched a tiny bit closer. “But… How did you choose me?” The question came out
of her mouth before she’d even formed the words in her head.

“We have talked a
lot, and your mind is weary,” Cade said, instead of answering her question. “I
think a demonstration will help. Are you ready for me to show you my ability to
shift?” he asked.

She swallowed.
Am I?
She supposed if she wanted to know
that he was being truthful with her, she’d have to see him shift eventually.
Even if it made her brain explode, which seemed entirely possible. She didn’t
trust him yet, but how could she, unless she saw his claims proved with her own
eyes? “Okay. But, ah…. I might freak out. A lot.”

He smiled – a
smile that likened her knees to soft putty. “I’m sure we can handle that, if it
happens. I do not think you will.”

Molly steeled
herself, or at least she tried to brace herself, for the impossible. A man
shape-shifting into a cat.
This sort of
thing just doesn’t happen in real life.
And yet here she stood, about to
see it. Every nerve in her body tensed, awaiting something incredible.

It didn’t start
straight away. And there was no spark, or gushes of glitter as in a cartoon
prince or princess transformation. He simply
shifted.
One moment she saw a man, and for a second—literally a
blink and you’ll miss it second—he seemed surrounded by a misty grey cloud.

Then, a soft
meow.

As Molly stood
stock still, half terrified into stillness, half entranced, Cade padded towards
her on four feet, and rubbed up against her legs, his purring audible.

Slowly, she
reached down to stroke him.

Is it weird?
She wondered to herself.
I think it’s a little bit weird.

Well, there was
an understatement. It was a
lot
weird, but…

She’d seen it,
with her own eyes. How could she not believe him now?

Cade looked up at
her with those big, trusting green eyes. She knew almost without hesitation
that he was asking if she wanted him to change back.

“Change back,”
she commanded, softly.

The grey mist,
less visible to her this time, once more swathed him for a second, then Cade
stood before her, completely, gorgeously naked. Molly thanked God that he had
the presence of mind to grab the tea towel to cover himself.

“Well?” he asked,
a half smile tugging at his lips.

“Okay.” Molly let
out a long breath. “I’m still not convinced that I’m not dreaming, but if I am,
my dream self believes you.” She rubbed her hands over her eyes, because they
still felt as if they might pop out of her head. “What do we do now? I honestly
don’t think I can take more explanation about your…. About the Faewild.”

“Well.” Cade sat
down again, and Molly tried, and failed, to ignore his lean, lithely muscled
body, and all that gorgeous hair. “Two choices. You may send me back, and Lil
will assign me to someone else. Or you may keep me for a while, until you
decide that we are compatible as life mates.”

Her knees went a
bit weak then. “Keep you? What do you mean?”

“If you decide
you want me to stay with you, I will. And then after we – how do you say it in
your language – after we consummate our relationship, I will be bound to you
forever. Realmbound, as the name of Alianore’s portal goes. That’s why she runs
it – she is a realmbinder.”

“A what?” It
sounded like something from a kids’ cartoon or fantasy novel. “Now I do need to
sit down.” She chose the floor, folding her legs underneath her, keeping him at
a distance. “Cade, look, you can’t just say things like that to someone.”

He looked at her
with what seemed like infinite patience. “Perhaps I should explain it to you
again.”

“No. I
understand, all right. But you hardly know me. We can’t talk about forever just
like that. It’s…. it’s not how things work in the human world.”

“Oh but I do.”
His green eyes darkened, his voice deepened as he spoke to her. “Alianore had
me look in on you, follow you on your day, lay beside you in bed at night. I
wanted to know you even before you found me in that box on your doorstep. I
wanted to be close to you, to feel your touch. To make you happy.”

Gazing back at
him, Molly knew she should feel frightened or at least very creeped out by what
he’d told her.
Why don’t I?

But she only felt
a strange sort of excitement, building inside her.

After we make love, I will be bound to you forever.

Would he always
find her beautiful? Always be faithful to her? Love her the way she wanted to
be loved?

Although if Molly
was truthful with herself, did she have enough experience to know how she
wanted to be loved?

“How will it
work?” she found herself asking, even though her stomach twisted nervously. “I
mean… will you be a cat forever or a man forever, or can you shift freely?”

“I can shift
whenever I choose to, and also whenever you command. I will be realmbound to
you, Molly.” He stood then, one hand holding the tea towel in place. The cupcake
design looked laughable against his firm, tanned flesh. He knelt before her.
“It is a big step, my lovely one. Being realmbound to someone is no small
matter. Perhaps I could give you a taste of what you would experience with me.
The pleasure I could give you.”