He had an idea because he felt the same way about her mouth—her entire body—but especially her mind. He loved the crazy way her mind worked. He never knew what she was going to say, or think, next. She made him laugh. He’d lived centuries and he hadn’t known he could laugh. She’d given that to him. That gift. So many gifts and she still had no idea what she was to him. What she meant to him.
He would guard her, protect her and the only way he could do that was to make certain she was with him at all times. He couldn’t chance her running around the mountain in the daytime when anything could happen to her and he couldn’t save her. She would come to understand the need once she’d spent time in his world and had come to terms with it. Right now, he knew, she couldn’t help feeling he’d betrayed her.
Kissing him the way she did, even knowing she was upset, that she was afraid and felt he had deceived her, was a miracle in itself. He was a man who had given up on miracles. He’d given up on life. He’d thought to die with honor, and in that moment of absolute despair that he would have to continue, she had come to him with her laughter and kisses and a bright, bright light that shone from her soul.
“So how? How do I go from this . . .” Teagan swept a hand down her body. “To that?” She pointed to the sky.
“I will show you first. And then I will talk you through the steps.”
She nodded, her lower lip caught between her teeth. He could see the flash of fear in her eyes, feel it in her mind, but she wanted to know how to fly. She wasn’t about to allow fear to stop her from learning. Andre felt his heart flutter and the knots in his belly he’d had since he’d risen loosened a little. Teagan faced life head-on. His Teagan.
He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckle because if he kissed her mouth they wouldn’t be going anywhere other than back inside the cave. Dropping her hand, he stepped back, giving himself room and her space. He didn’t want her to panic when he shifted form.
“The change always starts in your mind, Teagan. Stay in mine and see the image I project. It can be anything from putting clothes on to taking them off. Shifting is more difficult in the beginning because you have to have your image in perfect detail. You will learn how to do that and it will become second nature. You will no longer have to think about it, your body will just do it.”
She nodded, but she took another step back. He didn’t like that, but gave her the space.
“Sivamet, if this is too soon, there is no need to start yet. I can take you to the village. You will enjoy that as well.”
She took a breath. “I want to learn. This is something that would go on the pro side of being like you. I have to have a lot of pros right now, Andre.”
He smiled at her. He couldn’t help it. She was so adorable. So determined. He didn’t think a man could love a woman more than he did Teagan in that moment. He didn’t wait, because she only had so much courage and she’d already faced so much.
Andre deliberately pictured the owl in his mind. He chose the medium to large Ural owl because he was certain Teagan would have seen it numerous times. Grayish feathers, dark eyes, no ear tufts, chest heavily streaked in gray and white. A good four-foot wingspan. Fierce. Free. Beautiful in flight or sitting quite still, waiting for prey. They punched with their talons and protected their territories, nests and owlets with a ferocious and very aggressive single mind.
He gave her the information as well as showing her the feather structure and detail. As he did, he reached for the change, the shift to that amazing creature’s form. He was lightning fast as a rule. He could shift in midair in the blink of an eye. He’d been shifting for centuries and it was second nature to him, but he did this one slow so she could see it happening.
Teagan’s gasp nearly made him stop midchange, but she stepped closer to the forming bird, her eyes wide with shock and wonder. Her entire face lit up. He stayed firmly in her mind.
While you are shifting, it will feel strange to you, but you must keep only the image that you want to be in your head the entire time.
“What will happen if I mess up?”
Even in the owl’s body, he heard the trepidation in her voice. I will be with you and can guide you back. Keep your mind in mine. Focus on the image of the owl. Study my form before you attempt it. Have no fears, Teagan, I will not allow anything to happen to you.
Teagan took a deep breath and walked around the owl. It was a powerful creature. Intelligent and, she could see, fierce, just as Andre had described it. Its facial disc was prominent and mostly a grayish color. There was a rim around the disc that had beautiful, pearl-like spots in light and dark. The head was round and the tail, with its wedge-shaped tip, was long.
She wanted to make the change. She had watched him do it. Andre, going from his tall, broad-shouldered, thick-chested frame to that of an owl had been unbelievable. She’d seen it with her own eyes and still couldn’t believe it. To think she might be able to do that was . . . well . . . extraordinary.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. She had to do this. It might be more thrilling than climbing a V13, which was crazy difficult but utterly mind-consuming and absolutely satisfying.
“Shifting starts in the mind,” she murmured softly. Determined. She could do this. Andre had brought her into his world because he’d been too afraid to allow her to remain in hers. She didn’t have to worry that he would ever want her to do anything he considered dangerous to her. That gave her confidence. He gave her confidence, because in spite of everything, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Andre would never let anything happen to her.
She took another deep breath, held the image of the owl in her mind and willed her body to shift. The moment she felt the pull on her skin she startled, but she felt Andre there with her. He was warm and strong in her mind. Steady. Calm. So calm, as if this was an everyday event, not the monumental phenomenon it truly was.
His calm spread to her. Her heart followed the steady beat of his. Her lungs followed his. She held the image firmly. Held to the command, willing her body to cooperate.
When it happened she was so shocked the female owl nearly fell over. She hadn’t really believed it was possible for her. Andre, yes. He could do anything. She wouldn’t be surprised if he moved a mountain. But for her to shift. To feel her body changing. Reforming. The sheer exhilaration was alarming because it meant she was already accepting there were good—no—great things about being in Andre’s world.
I did it, Andre! Look, I really did it. This is the most amazing thing in the entire world. The best. Well, she hedged. That’s not strictly the truth because kissing you is the best. Umm. Okay, that’s almost the best. Making love with you is the ultimate, but this really, really ranks right up there. But not as good. Just cool. Maybe cooler.
She felt his laughter. Right there in her mind even though she was an owl. She was an owl! She wished her sisters were around. Not Grandma Trixie, because she’d stake her with that vampire-hunting kit she bought off the Internet, but she was fairly certain her sisters would think it was cool that she was an owl.
Um. Andre. Can we go to church? Because Grandma Trixie is big on church. If I melt or go up in smoke inside a church, she isn’t going to be happy with me. I’m already in danger of being staked by her.
The male owl shook his head as if she was being crazy, but it was all the truth. The church question is absolutely legit. Have you been inside a church, like ever, since you’ve been this way?
I was born this way. Spread your wings, csitri. Get used to moving in the owl’s body. And no, I do not go to church, but Ivory and Razvan and Mikhail and Raven do. I know both couples very well. Neither has ever gone up in smoke in a church, although all four of them could easily become smoke if they wished.