by Leela Ash
In the third drawer she opened, she noticed a strange drawing on the bottom of the drawer. It looked like a strange star with many points and weaving lines that ran through it. Her fingers touched the drawing and she realized that it was burnt into the thin wood.
At that very moment, smoke entered the kitchen and as she turned around she thick black smoke billowing from the fireplace and filling the air. Covering her mouth, she walked closer and realized that something in the chimney must have caught fire – or maybe it was just blocked. She had no idea how these things worked. She quickly filled a trashcan with water and doused the fire before the entire house was smoked out. Still, she had to open every door to the house to air it out properly. As she contemplated dealing with the problem with the fireplace she realized just how exhausted she was from her trip. She decided to lay down for a few minutes. Of course she was quickly off to dreamland, only waking must have been hours later, although there was no way to tell by the light outside. It never seemed to get any darker. She had heard it could daylight for months up her but it was still weird to experience. But what actually awakened her was not the light, but the cold. She realized that she had left the doors wide open.
Throwing on a thick sweatshirt, Aria quickly headed to kitchen to make some coffee and looked at the mini -mess in the living room. There was soot on most of the objects near the fireplace and the whole place now smelled like an old fire pit. She ripped up an old box she found and laid the cardboard out in the fireplace so she could wriggle in a get a look up the chimney. She did not see any light, which she decided was bad. It must be blocked, she decided.
Her fear of heights did not rest solely in flying. She was afraid to get on anything over her own height, so she was not exactly enthusiastic about what she had to do next. In the end her fear of freezing trumped her fear of heights, and so after a couple of cups of coffee and a lot of nervous looks at the precarious roof, Aria looked around for a ladder. Truth be told, she was not too thrilled to find one on the garage wall. She also found a tall wand looking thing that she thought may be the tool used for just this sort of cleaning. With the ladder settled against the house and the cleaning contraption in hand, she prepared herself for the climb. Her hands shook as much as her insides as she scaled what felt like a mountain about halfway up , before pausing to look down. She shouldn’t have done that, she quickly realized.
Aria gasped and grabbed the sides of the ladder for dear life. The vertigo made the entire world seem to swim before her for a moment and she closed her eyes tight to stop it. She was almost prepared to open them when she heard someone underneath her laughing.
“What in the world are you doing up there?”
Aria gripped the ladder harder, steeling herself in case he was going to shake it. She knew it was a man, but she was too petrified to look down. She was all of ten feet of the ground.
Chapter 3
Darryl looked up at the tall blonde holding on to the ladder and he couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t want to be mean, but it was a little comical. By her body language she looked like she was scared out of her wits, but as he had walked down the road, he had watched the woman apparently conquer her fear and start up the ladder anyhow. Then she had looked down and he could see the terror in her eyes. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.
“Do you need some help Miss?”
“No, no, I just need the world to stop spinning for a few moments.”
That got another chuckle from Darryl and he waited patiently for her to get it together. She back stepped down at a snail’s pace, never once looking down at him. It was only when she was back on the ground and had settled for a minute that he was finally able to see her face.
“Hi,” she said.
So simple the words, but he could not respond. His heart leapt in his chest and he was fixated on her hazel eyes. They were green based with flecks of brown and gold that seemed to reflect in the sun like diamonds. His nostrils flared for a moment and he looked at her with a new interest.
“Hi.”
The words seemed ridiculous as a response. Darryl finally realized that he was staring at her by the strange, cocked look that she was giving him. She waited for him to say more, but the one syllable was all that he could manage and even then, it had come out like a croak.
“Sorry,” he said, catching himself … "do you uh, need help?”
Aria looked at him for a moment and was about to refuse on premise when she caught herself. Normally it might have been alarming to have a stranger show up like this in what still felt like the middle of nowhere to her. His easy demeanor however, put her at ease. Besides, she didn’t want to go back up there. She didn’t even know if she physically could go back up there at this point. She shook her head as she looked back at the tall, muscular stranger. He had on a jacket, but she could make out the tops and bottoms of several tattoos on his arms and neck. The man was huge and he looked slightly out of place, though just as wild as the surrounding woods. Maybe he looked perfectly in-place. She couldn’t decide, but there was certainly something different about him…besides the fact that he was hot as hell, that is.
“Yes please, actually I do need help I guess, thank you. I started the chimney on fire last night and I am thinking I just need to clean it. That is what this is for, right?”
Aria held up the brush looking contraption and he took it from her hand. He smiled again and went to one of the nearby cedar trees and pulled a long branch off of it. He handed her the makeshift tool and started up the ladder without another word. After he was on the roof and moving towards the chimney, Aria started to chatter, unable to take the silence.
“So my name is Aria, what’s yours?”
“Darryl.” He called down, without looking away from the task at hand.
“Well thank you Darryl. I guess you must live around here?”
“Just up the hill. Only house up there.”
“Oh, well that makes sense. I’m sure glad to have such a helpful neighbor. You will have to come by for dinner once I am a little more settled in. As a way to thank you, I mean.”
“That’s not necessary.”
By this time he had finished the task and Aria watched him descend the ladder. He jumped down the last few feet and came to stand before her once more.
“I insist. I promise I am a better cook then I am a maintenance person.”
“Do you mind if I take look inside? I just want to clean it from that side as well.”
Aria followed the man into her house and he cleaned the other side of the chimney with the bough. He moved away with soot on him and Aria held back a giggle.
“Here let me find you a towel.”
“Thanks…yeah, I half expected that the problem was that you had left the flue closed…but I didn’t give you enough credit,” he said as he showed her the old bird’s nest he had knocked down. “This must of been ‘installed’ over the summer months and Martha hadn’t cleaned it out yet for the winter.”
She searched in the kitchen for the towel but came back empty handed. “Sorry, I have only just arrived and don’t know where anything is yet.”
“I think Martha kept them in the bathroom.”
She looked at him quizzically, even as she headed to the bathroom in the back.
“I guess you knew her pretty well then, I mean…being neighbors and all.
“Yea, that, and she’s – she was - a family friend. She knew my father well.”
Aria handed him a washcloth that she had dampened slightly to wash the black dust off his face. There wasn’t much she could do for his clothing though.
“I’m sorry you are covered in ash.”
“It’s fine. It had to be done. Just remember that you have to do it at least once a year, sometimes twice to make sure it is totally clear. Most important is to check it before it gets too cold moving into fall and winter.”
“Thanks I will. You must come back and have dinner though. I never met my great aunt and I would really like
to hear more about her. The least I can do after she left this for me is honor her memory. She seems fascinating from what I’ve heard so far.”
“She was. She will be greatly missed.”
Darryl looked solemn for a minute. He looked back at the woman as she pushed her dark brown locks back from her shoulders. She was no uneasy on the eyes.
“So have you lived here your whole life?”
“Yea. I was raised here, me and my brothers. My family has lived on this mountain for a long time. Your house is actually the only one not owned by one of my direct relatives.”
“Oh. Why is that?”
“Well, our families are still connected in a sort of way, so it was never a thing.”
The answer was vague and apparently not really meant for her to fully grasp. Rather than pry, she just nodded her head, although she definitely wanted to learn more.
“So are you here to stay, or what’s your plan?”
“That’s the plan. I mean, we’ll see what happens, but I am planning on making a go of it in Alaska. I did just spent everything I had to get here you know.”
Aria laughed, though she wasn’t really kidding. She had to make it work there or ask for her family’s help to get back to her old home. Just the thought of having to return with her tail between her legs was enough to make her sick.
“Bold move. What made you do it?”
“I don’t know really. I guess I felt drawn here in a way. I mean, I was as shocked as anyone when I heard about it from the family lawyer, but I felt like it was a sign. Silly huh? I know most people don’t believe in signs and stuff like that.”
“Oh I do. I believe in destiny too. I actually believe that it’s the signs that lead you to your destiny.”
Aria nodded and wondered how he could have known the very thing she had been thinking.
“So what do you do around here? What does anyone do up here? I mean for work, you know.”
“There is plenty to do, believe me. But let’s start with you. What do you do?”
“Well I used to bartend some and actually garden too. I figured I could get something up here doing that sort of stuff as well.”
Darryl looked at her and smiled.
“You know your aunt used to have a greenhouse, but she tore it down before last winter. She was planning on building another one. Maybe you should.”
“That’s a good idea. I was wondering what that patch of dead grass was over by the outhouse.”
“I have been looking for a secretary of sorts for my company. Would you be interested?”
Aria thought for a moment and then agreed. Darryl was turning out to be quite the lucky charm. He was helping her knock out one problem after another. There was also the fact that he was gorgeous, even with soot covering his whole front. The tiny glimpses of his tattoos had her curious. She wondered what kind of business he had.
“Well come down to my office on Monday and we’ll get you started.”
Darryl handed her a card and walked outside. He told her he had to go for a meeting and then headed back up the hill a ways, before he got into a pick-up truck that had almost magically appeared around the bend. The side of the truck had the name of Vern Holdings, but she was not sure what that meant as far as what kind of business he was in. Too bad she had no internet up here...she would have to look into that…it must be possible, she thought. But for the moment she would be in the dark about what his company did. But he had saved her hide in a few ways already, she decided she could put a little more faith in him.
Chapter 4
Aria spent her weekend going through the old house finding little treasures and signs that gave her a better idea of just who her aunt was. More than once she wished that they had known each other. They read the same books and seemed to have some of the same hobbies. Aria also finally headed into town to do some shopping. She had only returned about a half hour earlier and was outside when she saw the black truck from the other day drive past her house. She decided to wave him down. Darryl put his window down and their eyes met.
“Did you need something Aria?”
“Yea, you want to come to dinner? I was planning on making chili.”
Darryl looked like he was going to turn her down, but then pulled in beside her car instead. Aria waited for him to get out of his truck and was surprised to see him dressed up. By his physique, she had sort of assumed he had a full jeans and T-shirt wardrobe, but the suit fit him well. He actually looked quite handsome.
“Wow you look good. I promise I will not ask you to clean anything tonight.”
As Darryl walked behind her his eyes were glued to her round ass swishing back and forth in her flowy skirt. It grabbed his attention like a beautiful flower in the breeze and he was unable to pull his eyes away. She held the door open for him and he walked into the house. The aroma pulled him into the small kitchen next to the entry way.
“It does smell good in here. So how is everything going?”
“Pretty good. It is certainly different here. But I like it.”
“Alaska grows on you. I think you are going to like it more and more.”
Darryl took his jacket off and set it over the back of the couch. It was Aria’s turn to gawk. The man’s muscles seemed to want to break through his thin white button up. There were more tattoos up his arms that she could see through the shirt, as well as a larger one on his back. The more she learned about the man, the more intriguing he became. Darryl rolled up his sleeves, revealing some of the tribal tattooing and her hand itched to touch it, trace it with her fingertips.
“I am not keeping you from anything, am I? I hope I have not been too pushy about dinner.”
“No, not at all. I would probably be eating peanut butter and jelly otherwise,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, I just didn’t know if you were missing family dinner.”
Darryl glanced up at her as she set a bowl down in front of him.
“Thank you.”
Darryl seemed to know all about the house and showed her how to use the battery banks and electrical system after dinner. They were standing in the small building that housed it all. Darryl barely fit inside it seemed to her. Usually the curvy woman did not feel so small, but next to him she actually felt petite. It was kind of nice.
There was a moment, where his face was so close to hers that she could have sworn that he was going to kiss her. She actually felt a spark. The moment passed though and she walked out after him a little disappointed. His eyes told her that he wanted her, but he seemed to be holding something back. When they got back in the house, she asked him if he wanted a drink. He agreed and seemed to relax, though she could still feel his heated gaze on her as she poured the glasses full of sweet tea.
Sitting together on the couch, the pair watched the fire lick around the wood in the fireplace. Aria glanced at him several times and had to remind herself that he was her new boss, though she didn’t work with him yet.
“So what is there to do around here? For fun I mean.”
His eyes filled with fire and she wished she had said it another way. He turned towards her and his eyes fixed themselves on her lips.
“There are many things to do,” he said evocatively. Shifting gears he added, “Pretty soon the place will be crawling with tourists here to experience the great outdoors.”
“Yea I heard that there are places that you can even see polar bears. That would be amazing. They are really rare I hear, and I’ve never seen one. Have you?”
“A few.”
“Where they as scary as they look on TV?”
“Not at all. Misunderstood.”
“Yeah I guess we have to take better care of their environment. So, is there anything else to do?”
“Well I like to go on hikes, sometimes go out to the ice. It is pretty amazing.”
“I heard it’s dangerous.”
“It is, if you don’t know what you are doing. I have been doing it every year around this time. It is the best place to go
first thing in the morning. You should come with me sometime. Maybe next weekend.”
“I would love to. It sounds fun. I never knew that a place that was so cold could be so beautiful.”
“The view has certainly improved.”
Darryl leaned towards her, gauging if she would move away. Instead of sitting back, she leaned the last few inches to make their lips meet. She sighed into his mouth, as her tongue touched his. His body shifted close to her and his hands wrapped around her, pulling him closer to his chest. His smell filled her nostrils, manly in every way.
Darryl was inexorably drawn to the woman by her familiar smell. He had caught a whiff when he had seen her two days before. It was the smell of his pack and their mates. He would have known that she was of the blood, whether she knew who her family was or not. The two families had been connected for many years and he was finding it hard to contain himself around her. She felt as good as she looked and with each touch, he was even surer that she was made for him.
He pulled back and watched her eyes open slowly. They were completely green and they held some of the same heat that he felt in his own heart. Darryl was sure that the woman did not even know who she was to him or who she was destined to be. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her, but with no one else able to, he knew he would have to be the one when she was ready. There was need in her eyes, but he required love before he could bare himself in such a way. He had to be sure.
Chapter 5
Aria came forward, her mouth searching for him and her body leaning against his hard chest. He groaned and decided that he could allow himself to go a little further before he had to stop himself. Darryl pulled her onto his lap and held her against him with his strong arms. Aria sighed as she relaxed into his arms and she hungrily kissed him. Her thighs found their way to either side of him, straddling his legs.
