Naomi the Unbeliever gave him a skeptical look. “How could he be? He hangs out with bikers at the the Crossroads Bar.”
Jamison stifled a laugh. As though gods were above fraternizing with bikers.
“Coyote does whatever he wants, and he has fun at the Crossroads.” Jamison sobered. “I was standing in here, sweating and terrified, and all of a sudden he was at the door. He knew what had happened. He told me that other Changers could help me and told me how to find them. He drove me down to Nogales and across the border himself, in a ratty pickup. Then he disappeared. Literally. Truck and all.”
Naomi ran her fingers along the sculpted head of the lion. “How did you get the rest of the way?”
“Walked. Hitched. I found the other Changers in the mountain ranges in Durango—pretty much in-the-middle-of-nowhere Mexico. I thought some parts of the Navajo Nation were remote, but they’re roaring civilization compared to this place. The Changers were there, all right.”
“And they took you in?”
“They beat me up, stripped me naked, stole everything I had, and locked me in a cage.”
Naomi looked at him in shock. “Oh, God, Jamison. Why?”
“To teach me obedience. I threatened the Alpha.”
“Why did you threaten the Alpha? What’s an Alpha?” He gave her a wry smile. “I didn’t, not intentionally. But when I showed up out of the blue, the pack leader took it as an attack by a dominant.”
“Mountain lions have packs?” Her voice shook. “I thought they were solitary.”
“Natural mountain lions are, but not Changers. They have a hierarchy, like wolves or African lions, and my scent and my approach wasn’t submissive enough for them.” Jamison folded his arms across his chest, uncomfortable with the memory. “It was partly my fault. They kept telling me to yield to their power, but the Alpha pissed me off so much I wouldn’t. The Changers feared I wanted to take over their little pack, even though I told them I didn’t give a damn and didn’t even want to stay. They’ve become inbred and paranoid, though I can’t really blame them. There’s no place in the world for them.”
Naomi studied him, worried. “Is there a place in the world for you?”
“I think so.” Jamison started to pace the tiny space, restless. “The Changers hid themselves away down there. They’d fled from many parts of the world to survive together. But they spoke of others out there who manage to live among normal human beings. I plan to be one of those.”
“But what if you have no choice?” She rubbed her arms. “You already seem different.”
“Different?” He’d tried so hard to remain solidly himself. “Different how?”
“The Jamison I knew would never pace. And he wouldn’t not talk for an hour when he saw someone he knew. You rushed us out of the depot in twenty minutes. And the sex today was . . . ”
He stopped. “Was what?”
“Phenomenal. You’ve always been the best lover, but . . . wow.”
Jamison couldn’t help grinning, remembering the amazing joy when he’d shot his seed inside her. “It was powerful. Maybe two years of abstinence fed it?”
“Were you abstinent?”
She looked straight at him, but he saw the pain in her eyes. She wanted to believe he’d been true to her, but feared his answer.
“The Changers had weird rules about sex.” Jamison made himself stop pacing and lean against a table, pretending to relax. “Every sexual encounter you had, and who you had it with, meant something. The leader could screw whoever he wanted, in whatever form he wanted to. The next cat down could screw anyone she wanted, but had to submit to the Alpha. And so on. They tried to put me at the bottom, at the mercy of everyone, but no way was I letting myself be used like a sex slave. They said I could participate in the group orgies if I stayed chained up, but I declined.”
Naomi smiled suddenly, like the sun lighting up the sky. “I know you, Jamison. You didn’t just decline.”
“No, I pretty much told them what I thought about their sexual perversions, in vivid terms. Navajos are a modest people.”
“Modest, my ass. This afternoon you stripped in my bedroom, ripped off my clothes, and jumped my bones.”
Jamison warmed, thinking of the glorious feel of her clenched around him. “I pulled down the shades first.” He came to her. “Besides, it was you. I’ve never been able to resist you.”
Her gaze moved to his lips, and his pulse started to throb. “You haven’t finished your story,” she said.
“It’s almost done. Another way I fought their sexual advances was to tell them I already had a mate. This puzzled them, because according to the Alpha, Changers should only take Changer mates. Even Changers who mainstream don’t marry.”
“A mate.” Naomi’s voice went quiet.