Cherished by the Cougar_A Shifters in Love Fun & Flirty Romance Read online

  This wasn’t his first injury. Just the one that had done the most damage. And looked like it would also be his last. It was time he made his move on Claudia. He had pretty much decided that his feeling of instant attraction and lust was a by-product of the fever. Instead of healing, he was getting worse. He was running out of time.

  After two days of reconnaissance, he knew Claudia’s schedule. She would be back from work and Jimmy would be outside playing in the yard with her. He didn’t yet know how Jimmy had escaped from that fenced yard with its high latched gate to play with him. But he would figure it out.

  Cubs were ungodly smart and wily, but he was confident he could handle the normal hijinks of a cub. Even one who could become invisible. Wasn’t as if the kid was doing it on purpose. But he supposed to sorcerers, it might seem creepy. But whomever the kid had gotten that talent from, it wasn’t a Rutherford. Cats didn’t need to bend light to make themselves invisible.

  As soon as he finished this swim, he would pay his family a call. He paddled around in the icy water, letting the Pacific leach the heat from his thigh. At this time of the year, the water was cold enough to kill a man in minutes. As a cougar, Ryan had twenty or thirty minutes of leeway.

  The sun went down. The sea turned from purple to black. The wind picked up. How long had he been out here? Like any big cat, he had superior night vision. He checked his location and was mildly alarmed to see that the sprawling Rutherford cottage was a long way away. He was further down the shoreline than was justified by his lazy paddling.

  The current was responsible. It was far stronger than he remembered. How long had it been since he last swam off the dock? Years. His parents had always insisted that their sheltered beach was safer. But he had been relying on his cougar to get him out of trouble since he turned twelve.

  Now he was being swept south by the riptide. If he didn’t make landfall damned soon, he would get carried down the rocky shoreline of West Haven past the natural harbor of Mystic Bay and out to open water. The orcas in the Strait of San Juan would make swift work of a wounded cougar.

  Yet he couldn’t quite achieve concern. West Haven was too much the safe playground of his youth, the venue for so many innocent teenage adventures with his brother and other shifter pals. Shift and dang. This apathy was hypothermia. He had better get the hell out of the ocean while he still could.

  His right hind leg was only half as strong as his left. Remembering the rule to allow the weak to set the pace, he stopped trying to make his right leg do double the work. Immediately the riptide lost some of its grip on his body.

  Up ahead a minor outcrop of rock topped by the lighthouse jutted out into the ocean. He headed for it, allowing the current and the incoming tide to lift him, saving his strength for the upcoming scramble up the slick, weed-covered rocks. The waves picked him up and threw him hard against the tumble of broken boulders.

  He dropped onto his bum leg. Shift and damn. That hurt. He dug his claws into the rock and seaweed to prevent the ocean sucking him back into its chilly embrace, brought up his rear legs and clung. The next wave forced him a little higher. He scrambled to get a better foothold.

  The retreating water pushed hard trying to take him with it. He flattened his whole body against the rough rock and waited for the next wave. It lifted him and also tried to snatch him back under the water. But each wave got him a little higher until he was above the high tide line where the weeds clinging to the rock were merely damp with spray.

  After that, he had an easier time of it. He navigated the almost vertical face of the outcrop, wending his way around the slick seaweed and slimy spume. By the time he got to the top, he was quite proud of his escape. Exhausted but proud. He sank gratefully to the scrubby grass at the top of the cliff.

  When he came to, the moon and the stars had made a fairyland of the sky. The wind off the ocean was chilling him to the bone. On the plus side, he wasn’t burning up with fever. Of course he was hypothermic.

  Where was he?

  He could just make out the tall column of the old lighthouse. Out of the darkness, a shrill treble scolded him. “Cat, you’re not s’posed to go swimmin’ by yourself.”

  The boy set his small starfish hands on either side of Ryan’s face and rubbed noses. “You’re cold, Cat.” Warmth traveled from those little hands all through Ryan’s freezing body. A gentle warmth. Not a fever.

  Claudia called Jimmy’s name. The cub touched his nose to Ryan’s and bounded away. In moments, Ryan was warm enough to do the same.

  *The FAs are introduced in Phoenix Ablaze & Phoenix Aflame

  CHAPTER NINE

  Claudia~

  At first, she thought it was Dominic Rutherford standing on her doorstep. She was about to slam the door in his arrogant face when he spoke. The voice was different. Deeper. More resonant. It set her every nerve vibrating. Just in case, she raised her psychic shield. But she left the door open.

  “Are you Claudia Peterson?” The Dominic look-alike moved forward as he spoke. He was on a cane and she took an automatic step backward to give him space.

  His tall, broad-shouldered frame was the same as Dominic’s. He had the same thick golden-blond hair and the same patrician features. But he was considerably thicker through the chest, shoulders, and arms – as though he worked out harder. Despite his limp, he carried himself like a soldier.

  “Yes, I’m Claudia Peterson.” Why was she whispering?

  He didn’t seem to notice. His golden eyes looked around the shabby lighthouse keeper’s cottage with real interest. She remembered that her landlady, Robin Fairchild, had sold it to one of the Rutherfords. Presumably this was her new landlord. He held out a huge hand and she slipped hers into it.

  Despite her shield, she felt a frisson pass between them as they shook.

  “I’m Ryan Rutherford. We need to talk.” He handed her an envelope. Peeled off his jacket and hung it on her hook without asking.

  She did not need this now. “I have sixty days from serving of notice to quit,” she said without opening it.

  “Huh?”

  She glanced down. The buff-colored envelope was over-sized and very official looking. MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE was typed across it. Absolutely not an eviction notice. “What the heck is this?”

  “Open it.” His voice was friendly, but it was an order.

  It was easier to do as Ryan asked than start a fight. The envelope wasn’t even sealed. The flap was only folded over. She took out the large sheet of paper inside and smoothed out the folds. “What on earth?”

  “I was ruder,” he said conversationally. “May I sit down? We need to talk.”

  Her throat felt suddenly tight. She nodded. He sat in the armchair, using his good leg to balance. She perched on the edge of the couch. “Where did you get this?” she asked.

  “My grandfather gave it to me a few days ago. He got it from Robin Fairchild.”

  She believed him. The psychic prints on the paper were Robin’s all right. “Is it legal?” she asked.

  “It’s a forgery,” he said mildly. “You and I have never met. Remember?”

  Well, of course she knew she wasn’t married to Ryan Rutherford. She wasn’t married to anyone! She sneaked another look at the marriage certificate. Ryan James Rutherford.

  “If Mayor Robin created this, you’ll never be able to prove it was a fake,” she told him gloomily. Not unless Claudia was to unbind the spell. But before she did that, she had better think long and hard. Unbinding was unpredictable. Unbinding magic set by as powerful a fairy as Robin was actively dangerous.

  Claudia eyed him over the frail barrier of the certificate. The shield protecting her also prevented her intuition from getting a sense of him. Couldn’t be helped. But if ever she needed to be able to read another person, now was the time.

  Ryan Rutherford had to be a close relative of Dominic’s. And just as rich. He was wearing the same type of casual, hand-tailored clothes that Dominic favored. Clothes that looked simple yet were incredibl
y expensive. His crisp cotton shirt lay across his shoulders without a wrinkle. Yet his khaki pants hung wrong on the right side. Probably meant his injury was recent. Hmm.

  “Apparently the council is getting ready to kick you off the island. You and your cub.” Ryan’s voice was calm, but there was that easy authority again. This man was used to giving orders.

  “My son,” she emphasized the word. Cub, indeed! “And I have come to the notice of the Council, but it hasn’t actually come to a vote,” she pointed out.

  “No? I’m in time then. Anyway, I gather the mayor and her deputy intend to use their copy of that certificate to prevent you from being voted off. Which is where I come in.”

  That was news to her. She tried to get a feel for this Rutherford. He didn’t look like the sort of guy who allowed himself to be married off to a stranger. He looked like the I’m-in-charge alpha male type. The my-way-or-the-highway type. Like Dominic. It was a chilling thought.

  “You’re taking this pretty lightly.” Whereas she felt as if her head might burst with the effort of staying calm.

  He smiled crookedly. “I threw my hissy fit back in Seattle.”

  She returned his smile, as he had no doubt intended. The concept of this big dominant male throwing a tantrum was comical. He was looking around with that interested expression again.

  “It’s a rental,” she found herself explaining. “Came furnished.”

  His smile transformed his rather grim features. He really was as handsome as his kinsman. “I was looking for the cu-kid.”

  “Jimmy’s playing in the backyard. I’m not sure I want him to meet you.”

  He raised both golden brows, leaned back in his chair and thrust his long lean legs into the room, claiming the space as his own, despite his injury. “Looks to me as though Sully and Robin have us both over a barrel. It’s not just that piece of paper. Hell, last I heard, divorce was still a thing in Oregon, so it’s not like they can force us to stay married.”

  “Go on. What’s the stick they’re using on you?”

  “If young James Mitchell doesn’t get a Rutherford daddy pronto, the Council will void our title to all the Rutherford property on this island.”

  She felt her eyes grow round. “Can they do that?”

  “Apparently.”

  She tried to focus enough to remember her West Haven history. “But didn’t your people buy it after the Haverstocks were evicted?”

  He snorted. “Evicted.” He rolled the word carefully in his mouth and spat it out. “That would be sorcerer talk for killed, right?”

  “Were they killed?”

  “You betcha, sweetcheeks. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Nor me. And, yes, after we hunters cleaned up that nest of vicious psychopaths, we bought our land from the Mystic Bay Town Council – at full market value. And, yes, to this day we hold the land at their discretion.”

  “Oh. So what happens if I scupper the deal?”

  He looked blank. So he wasn’t a sailor.

  “Sink this scheme,” she clarified.

  “I know what scupper means, Claudia. But it doesn’t arise. You and I are married. For better or worse, Mrs. Rutherford. Until death do us part.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “If necessary. I figured I’d save the threats for when I ran out of better ideas. I’m here to make all your dreams come true, Claudia. Tell me what you want most in the world and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “World peace?”

  He smiled his charmer’s smile again. Just a quick flash, as if he were genuinely amused. “I’ll admit that I had more material bribes in mind.”

  “Aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves?” she countered. “I want to know why your name is on this certificate.”

  He shrugged. An easy glide of big muscles under his light blue sports shirt. He took a smaller envelope out of his breast pocket and handed it to her. “I think so it matches this one.”

  Her hands shook as she opened the envelope imprinted with the name of the Oregon State Registry. It contained Jimmy’s birth certificate. But where she had deliberately left his father’s name blank, Ryan James Rutherford had been filled in. Her son’s last name was registered as Rutherford instead of Peterson.

  She rose and went to the old writing desk and rummaged through the file box where she kept her papers. Jimmy’s file was thin. Just his immunization records and his birth certificate. She pulled them both out. His birth certificate matched the copy Ryan had given her. Robin certainly was thorough.

  “But why you?” She peeked out the window into the yard. Jimmy was on all fours, playing some complex game among the raspberry canes. She returned to the couch. “That still doesn’t explain why they picked you out of all the Rutherfords.”

  “Your boy’s one of us.” He opened his arms wide, flaunting that broad chest at her. Despite her shield her stomach clenched tight and an excited throbbing began deep inside her.

  “I’m the last bachelor in my cohort. Or I was. I seem to have been married for four years.” His tone was dryly amused. “That could be why they settled on me, or it could be a bunch of other stuff.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like your naming the boy James.”

  “My grandfather Golightly is named James. My mother’s father.”

  “I see. Well, James is my middle name. And then there’s the date of Jimmy’s birth. Nine months after Adam’s wedding. I was his best man. And I understand you were playing chambermaid at the inn that weekend.”

  Claudia nodded. “With so many guests staying there for the wedding, Robin needed the extra help. I was home on vacation, so I lent a hand. I don’t remember you.”

  “I stayed with my parents in their cottage. But I was at the inn for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. And to clinch matters, the boy is a cougar and he has the Rutherford Y chromosome.”

  She was on her feet, fists clenched, stuttering with wrath and anxiety. “A-a-and y-y-you kn-kn-know this h-h-how?”

  “Sit down before you fall down.” He was standing before her and easing her back onto the couch. She could feel him through her shield as a pleasant humming through her whole body. “That’s better.” He went back to the armchair, limping worse without his cane. This time he was clumsier when he sat down.

  “No one had permission to take Jimmy’s DNA,” she insisted fiercely.

  “You’re holding a forged marriage certificate, and a forged birth certificate, and you’re up in arms about a little spit or snot?” Ryan shook his head. Not a golden hair budged. It wouldn’t dare. “Anyway, in case you’re interested, the lab compared my grandfather’s DNA with Jimmy’s. He’s definitely one of us.”

  “But not yours,” she shot back.

  “Absolutely, he’s mine. You have the paper to prove it.” His voice was still amused.

  But there was nothing funny about this situation. “Don’t you want to know who the father really is?”

  Big white teeth flashed. “Which of my brothers or cousins do you want me to have to kill?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Claudia~

  “Kill?” she gasped.

  “Kill.” His voice was hard and flat. “You are my wife. If I knew for a fact which dumbass son of a tomcat seduced you, I’d have to deal with him, wouldn’t I?”

  “Seduced?”

  He looked even more dangerous. But not to her. Her pulse didn’t even rise, although his body swelled and his face grew hard.

  “Tell me he didn’t force himself on you,” he said through a jaw clenched so tight those teeth were going to ache later.

  “It wasn’t rape,” she confirmed. “He just neglected to mention that he already had a wife.” Certainly Dominic had deliberately led her to believe she was his fated mate. For a while she had been convinced he was hers.

  Ryan pulled air into his chest. Breathed out. Visibly got himself under control. “I apologize on his behalf,” he ground out. “The Rutherfords owe you. I’m here to pay our debt.” />
  “With marriage? It really wasn’t your fault.”

  And she wasn’t sure she was ready to marry a stranger. Her thoughts spun madly. Could she cope with Jimmy off-island? Could she marry a stranger? Only Ryan Rutherford didn’t feel like a stranger.

  Had Robin put a love spell on her? Well, of course she had. Robin was thorough. No wonder she felt this insta-love, insta-attraction. She glared at Ryan, who gazed blandly back.

  He broke into her reverie. “Has he at least been meeting his financial obligations?” He glanced around at the shabby room.

  She waved a hand in negation. “I didn’t tell him about Jimmy. When I discovered he already had–” she paused, “A family, I told him to get lost.”

  Ryan shook his head, disgust stiffening that wide square jaw. “Did you have that bubble thing going around your aura when you kissed him off?” he asked curiously. “Because a cat should have been able to detect that you were pregnant.”

  “You can sense my shield?” No one had ever been able to do that. No one.

  “Well, sure. It’s like your aura is frozen solid. But not flat-lined. I’ve never seen anything like it. Makes it hard to get a reading on you.” He sniffed. “I can’t even tell if you’re scared or just worried.” He sounded indignant.

  “You could tell all that from my aura?”

  “And your scent. I’m a hunter, Claudia. My cougar senses pick up on emotions, intentions, health, and yeah, stuff like ovulation and pregnancy.”

  “Oh.” She resolved to keep her shield up as long as he was around.

  “Doesn’t it use a lot of energy?” he inquired curiously.

  Now that he mentioned it, it did. She had to use a lot more psychic power to keep her shield intact against Ryan’s probing than she had to deflect Kevin’s feeble magic. Ryan was probably off-the-charts powerful. Maybe the Council was right to be worried about their child. Except, he wasn’t really the father. Focus, Claudia.

  “Yes,” she answered his question. “But you’re a stranger.”

  “Your husband. I mean you no harm, Claudia. I promise. Like I said, we Rutherfords owe you and I’m here to grant you your deepest wish. World peace excluded.”