Hawking a Future (4 page)

This time, it was faster. She didn’t have to shrink quite so far. When the pain ended and her arms ceased flailing, they were wings and she was a bird.

Tovin looked bright as he moved toward her. “Come with me, Hayley. I have you.”

He extended his wrist, and she clumsily shifted until she was perched. He walked through the woods toward the Meditation Centre, and she watched every motion with rapt attention.

Teal came toward them and looked at Tovin curiously. “Who is this?”

Tovin made a gesture of introduction. “Teal, this is Hayley’s second form.”

She stepped back in surprise, and Hayley chirped confirmation.

“That’s...unusual.”

Hayley flapped her wings, and she felt Tovin’s wrist rise with her claws around it. She shrieked again and let go of her perch. She flapped frantically, and in moments, she ended up on the roof of the Meditation Centre.

Well, fuck. I am stuck.
Her instincts told her that she could just glide to the ground, but her human mind rebelled.

Teal came into her sight and grinned. “You can glide down. Your beast knows how. Let her do it.”

Hayley let her mind go blank, and she let her beast do its thing. Her wings extended, she shuffled to the edge and she scooped air as she dropped into the open. Gliding was harder than it looked. She soared, and then, the ground rushed up to meet her. She was caught against a chest, and Tovin grunted when she struck him. He rolled with her like she was a football.

He rose to his feet with her pinned against his chest. “Well done, Hayley.”

She squeaked in response.

Teal came forward. “I am afraid you are going to have to wait for her to change back...again. I would recommend that you get some bacon from Teebie, and try and get some rest. She will probably shift again when she gets tired. If she doesn’t shift back by sundown, tell me.”

Tovin nodded. “Is it weird that she shifts after we have physical contact?”

Teal chuckled. “Not considering that she has gone all these years without a catalyst. You are that catalyst.”

Hayley looked up at Tovin and cocked her head, looking at him with one eye. He glowed in her vision. He had started something the moment that they had touched. One way or another, he had cracked her defences.

She crawled onto the bed and dropped to the sheets next to Tovin. “You can sleep now.”

He chuckled and flipped a sheet over her. “I was having fun counting your feathers.”

To her surprise, he pulled her close and spooned around her. She was exhausted enough to pass out in his arms; she just hoped she didn’t absorb any more energy from him. She couldn’t take much more uncontrolled shifting.

He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, and her first impulse was to smile.

“Tovin, what do you do for a living?”

He followed one kiss with another. “I work as a hunter with the shifter guild. I have been on some of the recent cooperative teams that help get through the fey magic around the compounds where shifters are being held.”

She shivered at the memory of the hollow eyes of those shifters when they first arrived. “You are working for a worthy cause.”

“You know some shifters who have been involved?” He pulled her in protectively.

“Yes. I work at the recovery centre. When they have made their statements to the guild, they go there. I spend my vacations there, every year for the last five years.” She sighed as he moved his lips over her shoulder again.

“Vacation days? You have another job?”

“Sure. I was raised in the human world. I have a boring clerk position, and I have probably been replaced by now. I will find something else when I get back.” She rubbed her cheek against the pillow and concentrated on being safe and warm.

Tovin’s breathing evened out and hers went with it. Perhaps sharing a bed with another warm body was a good idea.

She woke up feeling energised and a little bit grubby. With care, she pried Tovin’s hand from around her waist, trying not to wake him. She made a run for the bathroom, took a quick shower after she had attended to everything else and brushed her teeth until her gums throbbed.

When she was clean and wrapped in a towel, she tiptoed out into the bedroom and headed for the dresser.

“You can come back to bed, you know. I don’t mind wet hair.”

She froze. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

“I have been awake for hours. I was just enjoying the cuddle.” The little-boy voice was incongruous in such a large man.

She continued looking for jeans and a t-shirt, but there were no jeans to be found.

“If you are looking for jeans, I will have to grab some for you from the general store. Yours had to be cut off last night. So did your t-shirt and underwear. We got your shoes off in one piece.”

She sighed and dug for something to wear. Sweats came to hand. She got dressed and turned to him.

He wrinkled his nose. “They cover my favourite parts of you, but they look comfortable.”

She wandered up to his side of the bed. “I know what I look like. Flattery is not necessary.”

He sat up with his eyes glowing. “It isn’t flattery. The moment I saw you, everything I thought I wanted was gone. You are the only woman I can think of.”

“Infatuation?” Her tone was hopeful and she knew it.

He got to his feet and walked over to her, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her toward him. “I have lived long enough to know that infatuation, lust and momentary interest are nothing compared to what I feel for you.”

She twisted her lips. “I haven’t got that kind of experience.”

He rubbed her sweats on her back, and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “That comes with time. Now, can I interest you in going out for dinner?”

Her stomach answered for her with a rumble. “I guess that is a yes. I don’t want to wear my work clothes, but I don’t have much else.”

“You brush your hair and I will take a shower. When you are ready, I will be out and dressed. We will stop at the general store and you can pick something out.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I hate shopping for useless clothing.”

“Anything you purchase will be paid for by the fey coalition. Consider it an inducement to spend freely.”

She grimaced. “I just want to have some clothing to shift into that doesn’t involve it being cut off of me.”

“I imagine getting trapped as you shift would be uncomfortable.”

His voice took on a soft singsong. “If you bond with me, you will get my ability to move your clothing out of the way in an instant.”

Hayley blinked and leaned back, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Is that an inducement?”

“It is a promise.”

She clued in to his other statement. “Wait, does that mean you can shape shift?”

He smiled and shrugged. “All the fey put here for the shifters have access to another form.”

“What are you?”

“A red kite.”

She nodded and then shook her head. “I don’t know what that is.”

He grinned. “I am a bird similar to your own red-tailed hawk. I am just a bit bigger.”

“Oh. So, you could teach me how to fly.”

“It seems your beasts know how to fly, they just lack the muscle memory to do the job. That will come easily.”

His hands ran over her back, and he flattened them on her shoulder blades. “You have two flying forms, so your power will come from your shoulders and your chest. Your balance comes from your lower back and buttocks.”

She glanced down at the swell of her breasts under the fabric. “I don’t know if there is room in there for a lot of muscle.”

He followed her gaze. “I think there might be a bit of room, but you are wonderfully curved at all angles.”

Hayley blushed. “It isn’t usual for shifters. I know.”

“I love it. Every inch of you is welcoming and lush.” He leaned in and kissed her neck.

Her blush could have started a forest fire.

His kiss moved up her neck, and he settled on her lips. She put her hand on his arm, and she leaned into him. She dragged her hand over his shoulder and into his hair.

The kiss deepened, his hands moved up her back, dragging her sweatshirt, and his warm hands contacted her skin. His hands took up most of her back. As the kiss deepened, his hands changed direction until they were cupping the globes of her butt to pull her against him.

She was trying to read him while he kissed her, but it was impossible. He was too close and she was too distracted.

Instinct. Let your instinct guide you.

She pulled away from him and gasped. “Enough.”

He slowly set her back on her feet. “Whatever you like.”

He pulled his hands out of her sweats with reluctance. “Your skin is like silk.”

She placed her hands on his chest and pushed back. “I know. Since no one else is allowed near me, I have gone exploring a time or two. I know my human body inside and out.”

His eyes flared with interest. “Really? Do tell.”

She tapped his chest. “Go shower. I will brush my hair, and when I am done, I am heading to the store. You have until then to join me.”

He kissed the tip of her nose and was in the bathroom in seconds.

A little bemused, Hayley went to work on her hair. It had had enough time to dry, so she worked it into a puffy halo and braided it into a rope. She snapped an elastic on the end, put on her flip-flops and headed out the door.

She pattered down the stairs and headed over to the general store.

“Good day.” She smiled brightly.

The handsome man with brown hair and eyes smiled at her. “Good day. My name is Andy, what can I do for you?”

“I need more casual clothing that is easy to get on and off. I don’t have control over my shifting yet, so the less I have on, the better.”

Andy came around the corner, eyed her from head to toe and nodded. “Wait here while I gather a few basics.”

He moved efficiently around the store and returned with an armload of fabric with shoeboxes balanced on top.

“Come this way. I will set you up in a dressing room.”

She followed him, and her flip-flops smacked her heels with every step.

“A creepy elf might come in here and want to participate. Whistle if he shows up.”

“What will make him creepy?” Andy grimaced.

She peeked around the corner of the curtain. “He will be interested in me. That is usually creepy enough.”

Andy’s face had gone from concern to amused shock as she pulled the curtain back into place.

Hayley whipped her clothing off and looked at the new selections. The bandeau with a single strap looked comfy, but it wasn’t going to stand up to the stresses her breasts would put on it.

The panties fit and had a bit of stretch to them. She whipped her arm around the curtain and dangled a bra from her fingertips. When it was taken, she said, “36F please.”

The bra disappeared, and a moment later, a masculine hand appeared with the correct size in four different colours.

“Thank you.”

She slipped the first of the four on and sighed in relief as everything was supported and comfortable. “Perfect fit. Thank you.”

To her surprise, she checked the label and the bra was a 38F. No wonder the band was more comfortable. She turned, twisted and finally slipped on the first of the sundresses that Andy had picked out for her.

The mirrors in the change room were too close, so she opened the curtain and stepped outside. Tovin was leaning against the doorframe. “Yikes!”

He grinned. “The dress looks good, but I think I can see all the way down to your toes.”

She glared at him and moved to the three-way mirror. The dress was good, but it was way too tight at the bust line, too wide at the waist, and snug at the hips.

Andy came by. “Right. More of a 50s style. Back in a minute.”

Tovin stood behind her in the mirror and wrapped his arms around her. “When we bond, you will be able to make the minor modifications to the fabric to tailor it to you.”

“Wonderful. What do I do now?”

“Choose a different dress.”

Andy came to her with a series of separates that held promise, but they weren’t what she was looking for.

“They look adorable, and I want to try them on, but do you have something in a boring jersey dress that won’t tangle with my beasts?”

Andy’s eyes lit up, and he handed the clothing to Tovin. “I have just the thing.”

Hayley scowled. “One would think this was your shopping trip.”

He shrugged. “I am the one who will be looking at your wardrobe. I have a vested interest.”

He picked out a top and skirt. “Try these.”

She began a one-hour ordeal of clothing, shoes and a nightmare of static cling that made her glad she had braided her hair.

Out of all the fighting and fussing, she came out of the ordeal with a dozen pairs of panties, four bras, two sets of flats, two medium pairs of pumps and two high-heeled pumps. Clothing wise, she had four blouses, two skirts and three dresses that hugged every exaggerated curve as well as two jersey dresses that gave her plenty of room to move.

She was wearing a black blouse and a flaring blue skirt over one higher set of pumps.

Tovin smiled.

Andy grinned. “I will have everything else sent to the Open Heart.”

Her stomach rumbled again, and Tovin offered his arm. “I have made reservations at the restaurant if you would care to join me.”

“They have food?” She swore that spots were swimming in front of her eyes, making his face all splotchy.

“They do.”

“Good, because if I don’t get a breadstick in the next ten minutes, I am going to start chewing on you.” She held onto him and leaned a little more than she would normally allow. She was tired, she was hungry and her senses were out of her control.

They were on their way to the restaurant when Teal stopped them. “Hayley, how are you feeling?”

“Tired and hungry. Tovin has promised me food. Get out of the way or I will bite my way through you and I won’t use my beasts.”

Teal ignored her muttering and took her by the chin, staring into her eyes. “How long since you have eaten?”

She rubbed her face. “I had some of Tovin’s blood when I was a bat. Nothing since.”