Sheer Bliss by Leigh Ellwood Page B

didn’t turn back. Wrong move on both
counts—talking and walking. Soon heavy footfalls sounded behind him
and Sheila tailed him to his bedroom.
    “ Why not?” she demanded.
“It’s obvious you two made some kind of connection. What did you
do?”
    Caleb turned on her. “What
makes you think I did or said anything?” He truly hoped to
keep this tenuous relationship with Calla quiet. God forbid Sheila
should meddle. “Calla asked that we take things slowly.”
    “ You don’t smell slow.”
Sheila smirked, folding her arms.
    “ Calla and I have a
history, you know that,” he said, calm. He loved his aunt, but
damned if she didn’t get on his nerves. “There are parts of it
she’d rather not repeat.”
    Sheila nodded. “I can
understand that, but you aren’t promised to anyone now. There’s
nothing standing in your way this time.” She moved closer to brace
Caleb’s shoulders. “That Calla carries a recessive shifter gene is
so fortuitous for us, Caleb. She’s still at an age where she can
bear young, and your feelings for her have obviously resurrected.
If she didn’t return them, I certainly wouldn’t detect her scent on
you! What’s the holdup?”
    “ Aunt Sheila.” Caleb
gently shrugged free of her touch. “If it had been known when Calla
and I were dating that she carried this gene, would Uncle Jim have
released me of my arrangement with Teresa?”
    The question caught the
older woman off guard, and her arms fell slack against her sides.
She looked thoughtful, then frowned. “I-I don’t know,” she began,
then with more resolve, “No. Teresa was full-blood. That trumps
all.” She looked at her nephew with a long sigh. “You know, you
never should have led Calla along in the first place.”
    “ I loved her.”
    “ She’s wonderful. I don’t
blame you for it, but you’d always known your destiny.”
    Caleb nodded.
    “ If it’s some comfort,
though I know you also loved Teresa in your own way, you have this
second chance. Not everybody gets one.”
    “ What about you?” he asked
suddenly.
    That caused Sheila to take
a step back, as though threatened. “What? I’d only ever loved Jim,
even before I knew we’d be mated.”
    Caleb shook his head and
tugged at the hem of his t-shirt. “No, I mean do you believe you will marry again?”
    “ What’s the point? My
childbearing days are over.”
    “ Then marry for love,”
Caleb pressed. “Let your children marry for love. When they’ve left
the house maybe you won’t be alone because you’ll have
somebody.”
    Sheila looked at him as
though he’d slapped her. He should have expected such a reaction
from his hard-line traditional aunt, but perhaps if he spent more
time bringing her into the new century she might bend, and
influence others in the pack to modernize as well.
    “ I can’t believe you’d
suggest I help in our extinction,” she said, obviously
appalled.
    “ Try to think of it more
as sharing the best of ourselves.” Caleb kicked off his shoes and
eyed his private bathroom, wanting a shower but still savoring the
memory of Calla on his skin. “If Calla is recessive for shifting,
other people are, too. Let Trisha, Dawn, and Robbie find one of
them and fall in love.”
    Sheila scowled. “What if
they find people who aren’t ?”
    “ Let them be happy, and
live their lives.”
    “ I need to get ready for
the ball.” With that, she turned on her heel and stormed away. “I
will worry about my children while you do well to court Calla
Savitch.”
    “ If I pursue Calla it’s
because I love her. I couldn’t give a damn about her genetic
makeup!” Caleb called after her.
    Sheila’s bedroom door
slammed in reply.

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    An hour before the ball,
Calla lingered in her shower. She’d just switched off the water and
now stood tall and contented, allowing the steam to evaporate off
her body. While the remaining water beaded on her skin, she reached
for a half-empty bottle of baby oil and squeezed