"Actually, it's not great. I'd like to see you tonight." My words came out quickly, prompted by a need to convince her that I was serious about this thing we might or might not have. I didn't want her just to investigate my family's lost talisman. My feelings for her went beyond that.
I forced my hands to loosen on the phone, or else I'd have to explain to my carrier how I’d managed to crush yet another one. That probably wouldn't bode well for my wallet. They hadn't really believed my explanation last time, and I think they'd made some kind of note in their system about fraud.
Morgana remained quiet for a long moment. I almost thought she'd hung up on me, and I quickly glanced at the phone to make sure the line was still connected. "I'm not sure that's such a great idea. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm just not good for relationships. But..." She sighed, and I heard the tiredness in her tone. "But I do like you. I honestly do."
The words sang in my chest. I couldn't have been happier to hear that. However, I still needed her to let herself go out on the limb and give me a chance. I wasn't like those guys she'd had in her past. At least I'm pretty sure she'd never dated a coyote before. The only problem with that was how I'd tell her. I couldn't be sure that she wasn't a human, and I'd grown up learning from my family to not spill details to others that could come back to bite me in the ass.
"Give me a chance then," I said. "Let me prove to you that you’re worthy of a new relationship, even if it's just a slow and steady thing." The television in the living room switched off, and the sound of my roommate retreating to his bedroom nearly made me sigh in relief. Even if I couldn't go see her, I still had a chance of getting a good night’s sleep. Maybe.
"Fine. Come over for a little bit. I might as well tell you all that I've been learning. But you shouldn't stay for long since I'm pretty tired. It's been a long day." She hung up the phone.
I threw on my clothes and grabbed a small duffel to carry them with me after I shifted. The trek to her place would take forever in my human form, but my coyote was swift and agile.
My roommate peeked his head out of his room as I entered the common area and waved a twenty at me. "Grab some more soda while you're out? You can keep the change." His family was rich, so he liked flashing money for other people to do his errands. But most of the time, I didn't mind. It put a little spending cash in my pockets.
"Sure. I don't know when I'll be back tonight, so don't wait up." I nodded to him and started to the door.
"I didn't know you had a girlfriend." He walked a little closer, chuckling with mischief. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he pointed at the duffel bag.
Yeah, I guess it did look like that. "Maybe. We're not really sure what it is yet."
"Go get 'em, tiger." He playfully punched me on the shoulder. "If I know any guy who should be able to get a girlfriend, you're it, buddy." With that, he walked back into his bedroom. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment, especially coming from him.
But I'd like to think it was. It wasn't like I was used to girls making me this antsy and needy before. Then again, there was a first time for everything.
Chapter Thirteen
Morgana
The phone call with Cody hadn't exactly gone the way I'd planned it. I’d only thought to give him a heads up on where I was with the job and plan to get together to further inform him of what I'd learned. Him coming over now was a little much for me, even if some small part of me was somewhat glad. For the first time since Ezra’s passing, I didn't feel quite so lonely.
I forced the thoughts from my head and looked out the large windowpane into the night. My eyesight was better than a human's in this form, but my eyes were at their best when I was a raven. Changing indoors was out of the question, though. My raven freaked out indoors, and even my tight control hadn't been enough the one time we'd tried it. We ended up slamming through a window and ripping ourselves to shreds. Not something I ever wanted to do again. But that had been when I’d already been upset over my parents’ sudden deaths. Emotions had a way of forcing shifters to change, and ripping away their control. Now I tried to stay in the driver's seat when it came to my emotions. I didn't ever want to be that out of it ever again.
I brought my knees up to my chest on the couch and browsed the Internet on my cell phone as I waited. Tiredness made me yawn, and I laid my cheek against my knees. A sudden knock on the door had me flying off the couch to my feet. It seemed like seconds later, but the clock on my phone said differently.
I headed over to the door, brushing my hair out of my face since I hadn't really dolled up in advance of him coming over. I was kicking myself about that a little now. I didn't even have a mirror near the door to see if I had any hair sticking up all cockeyed. Damn.
I pulled open the door to see Cody standing there, a light sheen of perspiration on his forehead. He had a musky and altogether masculine scent that I wanted to sleepily curl up in. "Hello," I said. "I was almost about to call." Lie. More likely, I would've just fallen deeper asleep on my couch.
He raised his eyebrows at me. "Sorry that I woke you. I probably should've called when I got close." He reached toward me, before I knew what he was doing, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
It took all my willpower not to lean my face into his hand. "It's okay. I'm awake now." I stepped back to let him inside, and locked the door behind him as he walked by.
He turned to me and smiled. "You sure? Point me in the direction of your coffeemaker, and I'll make us some."
I returned the smile but shook my head. "If you're looking for coffee, you're all out of luck here. I don't drink it. The best I can do is hot tea or Coke."
"No coffee?" He widened his eyes in faux shock. "Wow, I guess I am out of luck. Good thing I'm not a huge fan of it myself. I might’ve had to go back out to get some."
"If that were the case, I'd feel obliged to drive you." I glanced at my cell phone. "But I'm afraid you'd be out of luck, because Woodland Creek Coffeehouse is closed." I smirked at him, enjoying the bantering. It had been quite a while since I'd done that with anyone. To be doing it with him was surprising, but not unpleasantly so. Maybe I was a little harder on him than I should have been. Maybe Kevin was onto something with his advice to move on, and not waste my life on sadness, and memories of a man I'd never see again.
"Guess you're right. I'll go grab each of us a Coke?" I looked at Cody and let the thoughts of Ezra melt away. I let myself just feel for Cody, as crazy as that sounded. Maybe this was all happening for a reason, and I'd be free from all the hurt. Nodding, I smiled at him at last, happy he was here.
Cody headed into the kitchen, and I followed him. My home wasn't all that big, but it was large enough that I wouldn't want to have to yell out him, especially since I wasn't sure what his hearing was like. I still didn’t know if he was a shifter, even though I kind of suspected he might be after the growl. "So, I guess I should get on with the information, since that's what you came over for."
He looked back at me with a raised brow and a slight frown on his lips. "That's not the only reason I came over. You should know that."
I stifled my smile and slid onto the barstool near the kitchen's breakfast bar. "Fine, I guess you're right. So here's what I found out."
Playing with the can of Coke, I started recounting what I’d learned from Kevin. I could see Cody's eyes glaze a little when I related his theory of the elemental conversion, but I didn't blame Cody for that. Not many got into the material sciences or material fabrication. Cody's attention was raised again as soon as I shared the detail that someone had tried to sell the stones at various merchants, and that I knew some of the areas where they’d reportedly found the stones.
"Can you show me on the map?" he asked, leaning gently toward me with genuine interest in his eyes. It had been a while since I’d seen anyone get into hunting like he was.
I brushed against him softly as I reached over to place the map between us. The touch of my skin against his was electrifying.
He gave a soft cough and leaned over the map.
"I know these areas." He pointed to two locations north of the town. "But it doesn't seem like there’s a pattern here. And without a timeline of when these spots were found, I don't think we can specify exactly how things have progressed," he continued, musing over the map.
While I’d shared what Kevin had told me, I decided to keep Mr. McGuire's involvement from him. I’d turned him down after all, and I didn't want to unnerve Cody, or make him nervous that someone else might be looking for stones. Cody was my client, but he didn't need to know about other opportunities I might have. I pushed the thought out of my head and showed where I had found my piece of gold. "And there was one here as well," I said, and looked up at him.
There was a small glint of light in his eyes, and he tilted forward. "You know, all of these are along old hunting paths. These two were used for hunting deer back in the day. See how they both end up facing a cliffside? And this one here has a stream running through it, good for fishing in mid-spring. I think that we’re looking for someone who’s a hunter, which, sadly, out here means about half the population," he finished, his voice slowly losing its enthusiasm.
It had been there on the map all along, but somehow I’d missed it. Yes, all of the locations were perfect hunting grounds, although rarely used. "Well, at least now we have a clue to go on," I said, raising my head to look into his hungry eyes.
Cody brushed his fingers along my jawline, and I leaned into them, greedy for the tenderness in his caress. If I closed my eyes, I could remember Ezra's touch, but I also had growing feelings for Cody. He'd somehow wormed his way into my heart in much the same way Ezra had. With both men, I'd been adamant about not getting too close, already reeling from loss that had made me vulnerable emotionally. Now Cody had managed to get closer than I'd hoped.
I found it hard to care when he was this close and warm against me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. He smiled at me and rested his large hands on my hips, as if we'd start dancing to non-existent music at any moment.
"Things are going so good. I can't imagine not having this time with you." He leaned in, and my body stiffened at the brush of his lips across mine. He hesitated, as if waiting for me to tell him that he'd done something wrong, but I couldn't. He wasn't doing anything that I didn't want him to do.
What he'd said in the car was one of the most sincere things I'd heard in a while, and I knew that he was interested in being with me because he truly wanted to be. I'd warned him of the danger, but that didn't seem to matter to him. That wasn't to say that I was about to let him get in the way when it came to my work. I wouldn't let him get hurt.
His hands ran from my hips to the small of my back, and I shivered at the sensations he brought out in me. My body savored his touch and needed more, even if I wasn't exactly sure that I was ready to have sex with him. But that didn't matter. This was what I needed. Some women went out and had one-night stands to blow off the stress of what was happening in their life. I didn't think this was a one-night stand—I hoped it wasn't—but having Cody here after I'd made some progress toward getting the destructive talisman off the streets was exactly what I needed.
He pulled me closer, pressing my body against his, so I knew exactly how happy he was to be here with me. In that moment, thoughts of anything but Cody faded away, and I leaned into him, not feeling loneliness or any other negative emotion that had haunted me for the past few months. Right now, I was who I'd always been. I was me. He made me new, and shinier than I'd been since before Ezra died.
I rose to my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips, slowly at first, a matching brush of lips. He made what was almost a purring growl, and it vibrated my lips, sending more shivers up my spine. He walked me back toward the couch, and my legs bumped it, letting me know I could continue our romantic rendezvous sitting down.
I felt the vibration of my phone in my pants pocket, but I wasn't expecting any calls. I'd talked with Kevin a little while ago, and we'd squared things away. I highly doubted he'd be calling again this soon. I’d gotten a few telemarketer calls recently, so maybe it was just that. Easy enough to ignore.
He pushed me gently back onto the couch, and succeeded in brushing aside any thought of answering the phone. I felt his breath on my neck and his tongue trailed over the expanse on his way to nibble my earlobe.
I leaned my head back a little against the arm of the couch, savoring the feeling of his weight pressing me down. As I wrapped my arms around him, I felt my cell phone start vibrating again.
He pulled away from me, frowning. "I get that you're a kick-ass treasure hunter, but don't you ever get a moment for yourself without phone calls interrupting?"
I sighed and shrugged a shoulder, a little sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm not really expecting anyone to call. Let me see who it is and if they've left a message."
His frown intensified. "Really? Can't it wait?"
I leaned my head on his chest. "Fine. You're right. It can wait." But what if it was important? I doubted a telemarketer would be calling me twice in a row. I wanted to just answer it and see what the deal was, but I also didn't want to make Cody think that my work was more important than this moment. That had been one of the trigger points in my relationship with Ezra. I'd had a hard time shutting off my phone when we needed time for one another. Granted, he'd been part of my work life, as my pseudo-assistant and business manager, but I still should've learned to balance my time better.