Good morning! Welcome to the Saturday Book Diver. Every Saturday I dive into fictional worlds to bring you interviews with exciting and unusual characters.
It’s a beautiful morning and I’m at the home of Bellamy Crawford. We’re seated by the pool, enjoying the summer sun.
Bellamy is a lovely woman with brown hair, delicate features and green eyes. Even in her human form, one can almost sense her feline side.
SBD: Thank you, Bellamy, for this interview. I have to admit, I’m fascinated by cat shifters. I’m not sure if this question is too personal, but what does it feel like to shift shape?
Bellamy: It feels like my body is humming and a light surrounds me, I felt my body shrink and shift from human to cat, but it all happens in a matter of seconds.
SBD: Would you tell us a little about yourself?
Bellamy: Well, the first thing you’ve probably noticed is that I’m in a wheelchair. I guess it defines me to some extent, but I haven’t really let it slow me down. I still get to do things I enjoy, like lying out by the pool, reading and going shopping. I guess I’m your typical bookworm. My parents didn’t allow me to attend college, but now that I’m moving into my mate’s home, that’s the first thing I’m going to change.
SBD: It sounds like you have some great plans. I’ve heard your mate is rather unusual. Would you tell us about him?
Bellamy: Seaton is… well, he’s wonderful. Some might think it’s strange for a cat and a wolf to be mated, but he’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a man. Did I mention that we met during a rescue? I’d been kidnapped by a deranged man who thought I belonged to him and Seaton swooped in with his tracker friends and saved my life.
SBD: He wounds like a great guy, or wolf. What is one of Seaton’s sexiest characteristics?
Bellamy: His body is definitely lickable, but I’d have to say it’s his eyes. I could drown in those blue eyes forever.
It’s obvious by the way she talks about Seaton that Bellamy is deeply in love with her mate.
SBD: Would you share one of your favorite excerpts from A Familiar Sin?
Bellamy:
Seaton smoothed a hand through his hair and picked up the bouquet of flowers from the passenger’s seat of his truck. He climbed out and closed the door. Facing the large two-story home, he felt his nape prickle. Something told him that this was the start of a new chapter in his life. Meeting Bellamy had been fate’s way of telling him it was time to settle down, to quit fucking around with anything in a skirt. He’d turned down more dates in three days than he had in his entire adult life. But he wasn’t sorry. Well, perhaps a little sorry for the way he’d lived his life up to this point, but he wasn’t sorry for turning all of those women away.
He’d only been in Bellamy’s presence a matter of minutes, but it had been enough to leave a lasting impression on him. He didn’t believe in ridiculous things like love at first sight, but he knew he wanted to get to know her. Could she be his destined mate? There was something about her that called to him. Was it possible she was meant to be his? He’d found her scent both pleasing and intriguing, she didn’t smell like any raven shifter he’d ever smelled before, and she was beyond beautiful. All right, so she was in a wheelchair. Who cared? That was such a small thing in the scheme of things.
Jogging up the porch steps, he knocked on the door, and waited. With his wolf senses, he could hear people moving around inside, and a moment later, the door was opened. Elaine Crawford looked up at him, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Mrs. Crawford, my name’s Seaton McCullough. I’m one of the trackers who found your daughter the other day. I came by to see her, if she’s available.”
She smiled. “Yes, of course. She’s out by the pool.”
Seaton followed her through the house and out into the backyard. What he saw didn’t please him at all. Bellamy was sitting up on a lounge chair, with a young man right behind her. His beautiful damsel in distress was breathtaking in a bathing suit. He suddenly felt overdressed in jeans and his green Lucky Brand T-shirt.
Bringing Bellamy flowers was a little awkward with such a large audience. All of her sisters were present, along with a handful of other raven shifters. If this didn’t go well, he’d be the laughingstock of the community for weeks to come. He only had to hope that she’d felt something the other day, too. He thought he’d caught a flash of something in her eyes as she’d looked at him, but he might’ve been wrong. There was only one way to find out. Man up and approach her.
As he neared the small group huddled around his target, the talking died down to a minimum. The young shifter behind Bellamy narrowed his eyes and set his jaw, clearly wanting to stake his claim. Seaton wondered just how close the two were. Did he have real competition there? Or was the young man just fantasizing? Getting a good look at him, he realized it was Rio, a raven known for his penchant of getting into trouble. He had to be a few years younger than Bellamy, didn’t he? She seemed older, anyway. Not that her age mattered one whit to Seaton.
He paused beside her chair and waited until he had her attention. When she looked up at him, he presented her with the bouquet he’d picked up on his way over. Her smile lit up her face as she accepted the blossoms, inhaling their scent.
“Thank you, Seaton. They’re lovely.”
“You’re welcome. I thought I’d come by and see how you were doing.”
One of the girls pulled away from the group and dragged a chair over for him. He settled himself and placed his elbows on his knees, studying Bellamy. With the sun kissing her tanned skin, she looked like a goddess. The scent of suntan lotion drifted to him on a breeze, mingled with what he knew was Bellamy’s own unique scent. It was an intriguing mixture.
“I’m doing well, thank you.” She smiled. “I never got a chance to properly thank you and the other trackers.”
“No thanks were needed. We were tasked with a job and we did it. I’m just glad we found you before something bad happened to you.” He paused. “We did find you before then, right?”
“Yes. He merely yelled and threatened before you showed up. I have no doubt he would’ve harmed me if you hadn’t arrived when you did, though. I really do owe you and your friends my life. Is there anything I can do to repay you?”
This wasn’t exactly how he’d planned to ask, but he’d take what he could get.
“There is one thing.”
“Name it.”
“Go to dinner with me, tomorrow night.”
I’ve enjoyed talking to Bellamy and sitting here in the sun is so relaxing that I don’t
want to leave, but the Book Diver magic urges me to return to my world. A romance between a cat shifter and a wolf shifter intrigues me. I’m looking forward to finding out how Bellamy and Seaton’s story turns out. If you are too, check out
A Familiar Sin
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