Silver Linings

sensitive sheath between her legs.
    Mattie closed her eyes and let go of whatever strings still bound her to earth. She put her arms around Hugh and clung to him with all her strength.
    It was a wild, glorious run through the night with a giant wolf. She was free at last and with her true mate. There was nothing soft or gentle about the trip, but when it all ended in a shower of tiny, delicious convulsions that rippled through her, Mattie was exultant.
    She turned her face into the pillow and took long, deep breaths.
    “Mattie?”
    “Yes?”
    “From now on I sleep up here with you. Do we agree on that much, at least?”
    “Yes.”
    “You see?” Hugh chuckled in the darkness as he rolled onto his back. “We do have a lot in common.”
    “Sex isn't everything, Hugh.”
    “No, but it's a start.” He sounded lazy and satisfied. “A damn good start. And it isn't all we've got going for us,” he added around a huge yawn. “I told you that earlier tonight.”
    “So just what do we have in common?” She was curious in spite of herself. Mattie propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him. “Go on, Hugh. Name one thing.”
    The intensity in his silvery-gray eyes was clear even in the shadows. “Don't you understand? We're both misfits, babe. Changelings. Round pegs in square holes for most of our lives.”
    Mattie blinked, startled. Then she frowned. “That's not true.”
    “It's true. I think you recognized it first. That's probably why you begged me to take you with me a year ago. You understood it instinctively then, but after I left you behind you were too angry to give me a second chance. Now you're making up excuses, telling yourself I only want you because I didn't get Ariel. You're bent on trying to convince me our lifestyles are too different to allow us to get together.”
    “Our lifestyles are too different. There's no compromise possible for us, Hugh. And you did want Ariel at first. You can't deny it. You still wanted her, even after you made love to me that first time.”
    “No.”
    “Yes, it's true, damn it. You said I wasn't your type, remember? ‘Thank you very much for the roll in the hay, but I've got a plane to the islands to catch.’”
    “You're running scared, Mattie,” he said gently. “Why don't you admit it? I know it took everything you had to make your big offer a year ago, and I was a fool for turning it down. But you've got plenty of guts, babe. I know that for sure now after watching you handle yourself out in the islands. Why not give our relationship another chance? A real chance?”
    She sucked in her breath on a fierce exclamation. “I don't have to make my offer again, remember? You've already made yours. You chose to follow me to Seattle. You're here now, so I don't have to go back there, do I?”
    They were silent for a long time while they gazed at each other through the shadows. It was a contest of wills. Mattie could feel Hugh's determination beating at her, looking for weak spots. She held herself very still, the way a rabbit did when confronted by a wolf.
    And then the wolf grinned. “Relax, babe. It's going to work out. You'll see. You just need a little time to learn to trust me. Now, go to sleep. We've both got to go to work tomorrow.”
    “Hugh,” Mattie said on a wave of genuine anxiety, “do you like working at Vailcourt headquarters?”
    “I've worked in worse places.”
    “You don't like it. You hate it, don't you? You're not an urban person, Hugh. We both know that.”
    “Don't worry about it. Like I said, I've worked in worse places.”
    “But, Hugh—”
    “Hush, babe. Go to sleep.” He pulled her against his side, cradling her close to his hard, lean strength, and put one muscled leg over her slender calf.
    Mattie sensed him slipping into sleep within minutes. But she lay awake for a long time.

    Mattie lounged back in her chair behind the tiny desk in her office and studied the bizarre-looking creature in front of her.
    Shock Value Frederickson, as she was calling herself this month, was about twenty-five years old. She was thin to the point of being scrawny and had a lot of chartreuse hair that stood out in a stiff, gelled halo around her head. She was wearing a couple of dozen clanking metal bracelets on each arm and four rings in each ear. She also had a ring in her nose, a delicate steel one. Her light hazel eyes were outlined in black and gold, and her clothes were a hodgepodge of Salvation Army rejects held together