He swiped the cloth between her legs a second time to dry her. Without saying a word, he lay next to her and pulled her on top of his chest.
“That was incredible. There is no other word for it.”
“I agree.” She arched her back and traced a finger across his lips. He nipped at her finger then sucked it into his mouth. Her damn pussy flared up again. How was that possible? “I have a favor to ask.”
He cocked a brow at first, but then his whole face relaxed. “Name it.”
“I think I’ve figured out how to enable you and your brother to shift. I overlooked something.”
His brows pinched then lifted. “What?” His excitement filled her like water on a hot day.
“I can’t tell you. Do you think you can convince Gage to come out to the woods tomorrow, say around two? I’ll meet you there.”
He gently pulled her face toward him and kissed her as delicately as a butterfly landing on a flower. “I will do my damnedest.”
She smiled. “Can you call to let me know if at least you’ll be there?”
“For you? Anything.”
* * * *
“I’m not going out to the woods to watch you make a fool of yourself again.” Will was crazy if he thought he’d want to try this shifting stuff.
“Okay, look. I promised Sella I’d go.”
He let out a rueful huff and shoved back the desk chair in the room. “You fucked her, didn’t you? That’s where you’ve been.”
His brother held up his hands. “Guilty, but I gotta tell you, I have never had finer sex in my life. For starters, she tied me to a chair.”
The image made him laugh. “You? Tied to a chair? I would have agreed to go into the woods to be witness to that.”
“I could have gotten loose at any time, but I’ll tell you, the woman can suck cock.”
“That’s too much information.”
Will dropped onto his bed. “She swears she’s figured out what went wrong when we failed to shift the last time. I’m meeting her tomorrow at two in the same spot. If you want to come along, I’d consider it a favor. Then we can spend the rest of the afternoon either skiing or romping around the forest, climbing trees, and scaring the shit out of tourists as we roar our lungs out.”
He was crazy, but to keep the peace for the rest of the trip, he’d go if only to get a good laugh. “Fine.”
“For real?”
“Look. I like Sella. I think she is hot. Actually, I think she is amazingly hot. There’s something sweet about her, but she also disrupts my thought patterns.”
“I feel the same way.” Will sat back up. “What if it were true though? What if we could shift?”
“It would suck.”
He craned his head forward. “Why?”
“It would disrupt our perfect lives. We have everything we want in Miami, except a place to ski. We’d have to give up our lifestyle if we learned we could shift, and I’m not ready for that.”
“Whatever. As long as you come, I’m cool.”
“Just don’t be disappointed when nothing happens again.”
He leaned back on the bed and wrapped his hands behind his head. That was Will trying to look cool, but from the way his foot was tapping the air, he was anxious. The two of them had a sixth sense between them. It was almost like they could communicate without talking, but he’d heard a lot of twins claimed that.
Gage shucked off his clothes and pulled on pajama bottoms. “Get some sleep.”
“I doubt that. I’m too excited. Tomorrow, I’m going to be a lion.”
“Roar.”
Sella had come up the mountain with Cavon and Malik. They said they’d keep out of the way but be close enough to be to help the two men if need be. Once they arrived where she’d first tried to teach Will and Gage to shift, the men headed down the mountain. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the flash of light, so she knew they’d shifted. She leaned back against the tree and waited for Will to come. Whether or not Gage would show was anyone’s guess, but she figured if Will was successful, he could convince Gage to give it a try next time.
Less than ten minutes later, voices sounded. Cavon had said that by being in their shifter form, they’d be able to send telepathic messages better. Will and Gage might have thought they heard voices in their heads back at the ski slope, but they wouldn’t have had an idea how to answer.
“Hey.” She waved and pushed off from the tree.
Will came over and kissed her. “You look beautiful this morning.”
“Thank you.” So did he.
She tried to appear casual, but she couldn’t help but wonder if either of the men could sense Malik and Cavon. Neither said anything, which was disappointing but expected.
“Are you excited to try the new experiment?” She faced Will since she knew Gage wasn’t a believer.
“Yes. What do I need to do?”
She faced Gage. “First, I need Gage to be out of sight. See that tree over there?” He nodded. “Stand on the other side so you can’t see me or Will. And Will, do the same with that tree.”
She’d angled the men closer to the shifters, hoping the mental messages would be clearer.
“Then what?” Will asked.
“Like before, picture yourself becoming a lion. Feel your body expanding and your muscles getting stronger. The mental image is important. If there was a physical threat nearby, both of you probably would be able to shift without a problem. But to change for no reason is more difficult. If you were in Anterra where the energy is significantly stronger, shifting would be easier.”
“Maybe we should go to Anterra.”
She chuckled. “Maybe someday.” Going there and being able to come back in a reasonable time could never be assured. Besides, the physical toll on her body would be quite severe.
Gage’s jaw tightened. “What’s different about this time over the last time? Will told me you’d figured out something different to do.”
She didn’t want to give away the fact that two shifters were nearby. “It’s a secret.”
His expression didn’t change. “If it’s a secret, we won’t know any difference, and this whole experience will be another fiasco.”
She didn’t know why he had to be so difficult. “Fine. I’m going to jump out at you and scare you into shifting.”
She expected Gage to laugh at her preposterous comment, but he shook his head and walked toward the tree she’d asked him to stand by.
She turned to ask Will to do the same, but he’d already left.
Only the pine trees had any green on them, so she wasn’t sure where Malik and Cavon were hiding unless they’d climbed one of the thicker-branched trees.
She prayed this worked. It had to. She knew in her heart that Will and Gage were shifters whether they believed or not. Gage groaned almost as if he were in pain. She started to go toward him then stopped. He stepped away from the tree, holding his hands over his ears.
Her mouth opened to ask him what was wrong when a huge flash of light stunned her. Her heart jumped to her throat, and she had to stifle the squeal. Behind her came another flash of light. Two lions ambled toward her. As soon as one caught sight of the other, they both halted as if they were trying to process what was happening. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to see another lion. She prayed they’d each recognize what had occurred.
Uh-oh
. Did they have any idea how to transform back? Her stomach tumbled. What had she done? Malik and Cavon had to be near. Surely they’d intervene if something went wrong. The path she was on had foot traffic, if the lack of snow on the path were any indication.
“Maybe you should shift back now.” She tried not to shout, knowing that voices traveled far in the woods.
The one she guessed was Gage roared. From behind a large bush came Malik and Cavon in their lion form.
There better not be a skirmish
. All four faced off, and she eased forward.
“Cavon, can you tell the men how to change back? We don’t want anyone happening upon us.”
As if they sensed something she didn’t, all of them scattered and scurried up different trees. She spun around, waiting for a group of people to come upon them, but no one showed. Her heart lodged in her chest as the minutes ticked by. “This isn’t funny, guys. Please change back.”
Now she was worried, not for Malik and Cavon, but for Gage and Will. Two of the lions returned to the ground and scurried back to their respective trees. Two bursts of light happened almost simultaneously, and Will and Gage emerged.
Will raced up to her. “Holy, shit, holy shit. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.” He grabbed her to his chest and hugged her tight. He leaned her back and held out his hand. “I’m still shaking.”
Gage moved next to her but said nothing. Something was wrong. “Are you okay?”
“The voices in my head creeped me out more than shifting, I think.”
Will nudged him. “Don’t analyze it. Enjoy it. Did you see how easy it was to climb a tree?”
“That part was awesome.”
Cavon and Malik emerged as men with big grins on their faces. They said nothing, but both Will and Gage spun around.
Gage looked between her and her friends. “You’re putting thoughts in my head, aren’t you?”
Cavon answered. “It’s telepathy. We know what symbols to send. Your brain automatically translates them into words. I know you had some thoughts, but they came out jumbled. With a little practice, you’ll get it.”
Will moved closer. “Are you saying that Will and I can communicate completely without talking?”
Cavon inhaled a deep breath. “Yes and no. If you’re near the alignment point, yes, but the farther away you get, the less likely you’ll be successful. Besides, you two are new at it, but even when we’re at the hotel I have some static, so to speak, in the transmission.”
Will shifted his gaze to her. “That’s incredible.”
Gage spread his feet wide, looking like he was ready to do battle. “So now what?”
“It’s up to you,” Malik said. “Take your time. Come out here and run around. Enjoy yourself. Learn what you’re capable of doing. You’ll figure it out.” He nodded to her and both of the men before Cavon and Malik slipped back into the forest.
Gage shot a glance at both of them. “We need to go.”
“No fucking way, bro. You heard that dude. We should try that again. I bet it will easier the second time.”
Gage moved within a foot of his brother, and Sella had the sense they might get into a fight, so she stepped back.
“Don’t do anything stupid. What if someone sees us?”
“So? They’d think we’re mountain lions. They have them in Colorado.”
She was glad that was true. She couldn’t imagine if an elephant shifter or monkey shifter existed. Seeing one of those would make one doubt one’s sanity. Keeping her mouth shut for a change, she wanted to see what Gage’s reaction would be.
“You act like you’re considering staying here and playing Mr. Lion.”
“Would that be so bad?”
Gage shook his head, turned around, and hiked back down the trail. Will stood there. She expected him to either run after his brother or pound something. Instead he laughed.
“Can you believe my brother? You give us this incredible gift of having some superpower, and Gage walks off.”
“Being a shifter is a big responsibility, even if you stay in Spirit and don’t come over to Anterra.”
“How?”
“I’ve heard it told that over the years there have been a lot of robberies, attacks, and other terrible crimes committed in Spirit. When the cops go after these men, the perpetrators seem to disappear into thin air. A few times a blast of light has appeared. What does that tell you?”
“There are shifters who live in Spirit?”
“Precisely. For the most part, they’re wolf shifters.”
His jaw moved as if he were chewing and digesting what she’d said. “Why doesn’t someone go after them?”
“Only another shifter would be able to recognize whether a person was a shifter or not.”
“So the hair on the back of my neck that prickles would feel different if a wolf shifter came around rather than a lion shifter?”
Cavon should be here to help. “I can’t say how it happens with another shifter, but I personally can tell the difference. You learn the feeling. My stomach gets queasy, but I know for Henla, my younger sister, her jaw tingles. It’s different for different people.” She knew he wanted to learn more about the wolves. “Even if you could walk into a bar and point a finger and say that’s a wolf shifter, you couldn’t prove anything. You’d have to give away that you shifted, too.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to get warm then shoved them in her pockets.
“Why doesn’t the sheriff’s department or police department employ a few lion shifters on their staff?”
The idea was so preposterous she had to laugh. “You are kidding, right?”
“No.”
“No shifter has ever appeared in public. Suppose, for example, an alien landed on the White House lawn. What would happen?”
His lips pressed together. “I would guess he’d be captured and studied.”