A Shift in the Air by Patricia D. Eddy

comfort. He’d called to her then, used her own
element to compel her to him. The crushing weight of the call had
stolen her breath, and though she sensed him now, knew he lived,
somewhere, the distance between them kept her safe.
    The note she’d left for Liam worried
her. She should have waited. Mailed it. If Liam read her words
before she left town, he might try to stop her. Glancing at her
watch, she blew out a breath. If she left now, she could be in
Oregon by dusk. With a quick charm, she convinced her boss to
request an electronic transfer of her final paycheck and then
headed for the apartment. She’d take five minutes—just long enough
to retrieve her bags, cleanse the space, and walk through one final
time, and she’d disappear.
    ***
    Rain battered the hood of her jacket
as she raced from the bus stop to her apartment building. Her
supposedly waterproof boots sloshed, and her cross-body bag dripped
onto the well-worn carpet. Head down, she smacked right into a
steaming brick wall and yelped when a strong arm steadied
her.
    “ Easy, luv. I’ve got
ya.”
    Oh God. Why? The gentle words warred
with the harshness of his tone, and she stared up into his moss and
amber eyes, hard and unforgiving.
    “ Let me go.”
    He took a step back and let her pass,
waited until she’d unlocked her door to speak again. “Do ya think
I’m a proper idiot?”
    Of all the questions he could have
asked, she hadn’t expected that one. “No.”
    “ Then why,” he said,
thrusting the crumpled note at her, “did ya expect me to believe
this?”
    “ Because it’s the truth. I
don’t love you, Liam. I didn’t then, and I certainly don’t now. We
had some fun together, I’ll give you that, but there’s nothing
between us.”
    “ Ye’re lying.”
    “ What? No.” She slipped
inside her apartment and tried to shut the door in his face. It
caught on his work boot, the steel toe blocking the only way she
knew to protect him.
    “ Prove it.”
    “ There’s nothing I could
possibly say that would prove how I don’t feel about
you.”
    “ Say? No. Let me kiss ya.”
The corners of his lips twitched—those firm lips that had
worshipped her neck, her breasts, and between her thighs. The nub
of her sex throbbed, and she stifled a moan.
    “ Get out.”
    “ If there’s nothing between
us, then ya should be able to kiss me goodbye, yeah? One last
kindness.” The amused glint to his eyes had her clenching her fists
at her sides. Maddening. Fine. He wanted a kiss, he’d get a kiss.
And…she’d have something to remember him by once she shut the door
in his face. She could hold back the tears for a single
kiss.
    She tilted her face up and let the
door fall open. “Come here, then.”
    Liam trailed a knuckle down her cheek,
along her jaw, and under her chin. “Ye’re the only woman I ever
loved, Caitlin.” His breath heated her lips. His hand pressed
lightly against her low back, and a desperate whimper threatened to
escape her throat.
    No, stay
strong.
    He twisted a damp lock of hair around
his finger and tucked the curl behind her ear. The skin on the back
of her neck prickled. Arousal flooded her, and he grinned. Damn
werewolves and their keen noses.
    “ Breathe,” he whispered.
She’d stopped, his spicy scent weaving a snare she couldn’t escape.
His eyelashes tickled her neck when he dipped his head to nuzzle
the spot below her ear she’d forgotten he loved once. His teeth
nipped at her ear lobe.
    “ Liam…” She couldn’t keep
her hands still and wrapped her fingers around the lapels of his
flannel work shirt.
    “ I love hearin’ ya say my
name.” His hard length pressed against her hip—or perhaps she’d
pressed her hip against him. Did it matter? God, she’d loved him
once. Could love him again. If only…
    “ Do ya want this?” he
asked, his lips barely skimming the corner of her mouth.
    With all her heart, but Fergus’s
threat loomed. If she walked away, she’d have his memory. If she
let him