Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  Taylor leaned into his brother and said, “I know we owe him our lives and that he could rip our arms out of their sockets without breaking a sweat, but if he hurts her…”

  Tadd nodded and said, “No matter what, I have your back, Brother. But I think Ben is right. Ice has changed and I think he actually cares about Penny.”

  “I hope that you’re right.”

  As the travelers drove out of town, Penny’s mind wandered. She was now alone with the object of her obsession, but the whole world had changed around her. Twenty-four hours ago, while her family was dying, she was acting like a love sick adolescent and planning how she could get Ice into her arms. As her thoughts filled with pain and guilt, she buried her daydreams deep in the back of her mind. The time had passed for childish fantasies and she had to face a new and dark future. Fate had decided that she needed to travel her uncharted path alone. Accepting her destiny, she said in an uncharacteristically cold voice, “It’s going to be difficult for you to be trapped in a car so long with a Human, so I’ll try to make this as easy on you as possible. I know that you’re not much for small talk and I’m not in the mood to socialize. Don’t feel obligated to try and talk to me.”

  Ice hated seeing her in pain but, not knowing the right words to say, he nodded in acknowledgement. Although he did prefer the silence when traveling in the car, he found it unnerving to be around Penny when she wasn’t talking non-stop.

  Once they were on the interstate, Penny kicked off her shoes and rearranged her seat to get more comfortable. She had put on a lightweight summer dress that, while curled up in the seat, was unintentionally showing off her legs. Ice swerved when he briefly lost focus on the road while glancing at the view. With his body’s obvious attraction to his travel mate and their continued close proximity, it was going to take all of his mental strength to suppress his feelings for her. He realized that the trip was going to be challenging for him in many ways.

  Several hours later they pulled into a truck stop for gas and Penny went inside to grab something to eat. Although it was lunch time, she had no appetite. Out of pure habit, she ordered a hot cup of tea and piece of toast—something her mother made for her whenever she was upset or not feeling well.

  While sitting at the counter waiting for her food, a man approached and asked, “Is this stool next to you taken?” Penny shook her head and gestured for him to sit. After the waitress took his to go order, the man asked Penny casually, “Where are you headed?”

  Penny replied, “Virginia.”

  “To see family?” he guessed.

  A lump formed in her throat. Unable to verbalize a response, she nodded.

  Seeing her instant distress, he asked with true concern, “Is everything alright?”

  Penny looked down at the newspaper in his hand and, when she saw the heading for the plane crash, she pointed silently.

  He looked where she was pointing and realized that she must have known someone in the crash. He put his hand on hers and said, “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  She was touched by this stranger’s kindness and they talked for a few minutes. He shared the story of how he lost his wife in a car accident a few years back. Somehow Penny found it comforting to share their pain together.

  Ice entered the cafe to tell Penny he was ready to go. When she spotted him, she held up a finger, indicating that she would be out in one minute. Ice waited and watched as the man next to her took Penny’s bill from her hand and then kissed her on the cheek. Ice clenched his fists and he dug his fingernails into his palms to stop himself from racing over. He wanted to remove the man’s hand not just from Penny’s arm, but also rip it from his body.

  After Penny stood, the man handed her a card that he had written on. She thanked him and headed out with her tea and untouched toast.

  Once back in the car, Ice asked between clenched teeth, “Who was that?”

  “Just someone traveling.”

  “What did he give you?”

  She took out the card from her pocket and looked at it. “It’s his business card.” When she flipped it over, she read out loud, “Call if you need anything. Brad.”

  Ice caught the cell number that had been hand-written on the card and was deeply bothered by the attentiveness of this stranger to Penny. As they returned to the highway in complete silence, he analyzed his feelings and realized that his anger wasn’t with Brad. It was directed toward himself. A stranger was able to offer Penny needed comfort and he wasn’t. In a feeble attempt to do something, Ice left the highway and got on a smaller country road.

  Seeing what he was doing, Penny asked, “Where are we going?”

  “I know how much you like to travel on country roads to see small town America. And since we have plenty of time, I thought the change in scenery might help make the trip easier on you.”

  Although Ice was correct and she did prefer traveling by off-roads, she couldn’t recall ever telling him that fact. “The twins were right. You do seem to know everything.”

  Ice cursed at himself, realizing that the knowledge he shared was given to Casper. Unless he wanted to confess all, he needed to be more careful from this point forward. But seeing Penny’s body relax as she stared out the window, he decided that his blunder paid off. He had found a small way to offer her comfort.

  Hours later they stopped for an early dinner at a small road-side bar. Penny picked the location, thinking that a dimly lit tavern wound make Ice feel more comfortable. She still wasn’t hungry, but refused to allow herself to be any more of a burden on Ice than was absolutely necessary. Per his promise, Ice excused himself to make a quick call to check in with Sam. At the same time, Penny went ahead into the bar and got them a table. While sitting by herself, a man walked over and offered to buy her a drink. Ice walked in as the man kissed her hand and walked away.

  Once Ice joined Penny, he asked while unsuccessfully hiding his irritation, “What did that man want?”

  Penny was shocked to see emotion in Ice’s expression. In an attempt to keep his anger in check, she said calmly, “He thought I was alone and wanted to buy me a drink. I sent him away.”

  Ice looked down at the table and saw yet another business card. Her popularity caused a flash of jealousy—a now familiar and uncomfortable feeling for him. Ice ate his meal, but noticed that Penny didn’t touch her plate. As the waitress boxed up her food, Penny pulled out her wallet to pay her part of the bill. Ice stopped her and said, “While on this trip, allow me to cover the expenses.”

  She shook her head and replied, “I can’t let you do that. It’s already bad enough that you’ve been forced to come on this awful trip with me. You shouldn’t have to pay for it as well.”

  “As you already know, money isn’t an issue for me. I may not be the best company, but let me do this for you.”

  Penny didn’t have the mental strength to argue so she nodded in agreement. Since they would be traveling together for a while, having the money issue resolved took one more burden off of her mind. Her shoulders relaxed and she said, “Thank you, Ice.” In the back of her mind she planned to keep track of how much he spent on her and find a way to repay him.

  When the waitress took Ice’s credit card, Ice looked to Penny and said, “And from here after, call me Jax.”

  It was a small gesture to him, but she was deeply touched. Now she was one person—possibly the only one—on the planet that was allowed to use his real name. It made her feel very special. With her emotions suppressed so close to the surface, she couldn’t find her voice to respond so she nodded and gave him a small smile.

  Jax sat up a little straighter, proud that he was, once again, able to offer something to Penny. For his next gesture, he decided to stop early for the night to give Penny a chance to stretch out and rest.

  When he found a motel to stop at, Penny went into the lobby at Jax’s side. When he requested two rooms, Penny panicked. She couldn’t bear the idea of being alone. Although she would have preferred one ro
om, she looked at the woman behind the counter and blurted out, “Adjoining, please.”

  After Jax carried Penny’s luggage to her room and placed it on the bed, he went into the room next door. Penny stood in the middle of her empty room, trying to figure out what she wanted to do. When she heard a knock at the adjoining door, she opened it and Jax asked, “I noticed that you didn’t eat anything at dinner. Can I get you something else?”

  Penny shook her head and said, “I have leftovers if I want to eat later.” She had already thrown the box out.

  Jax knew he should do something else to comfort her, but he had no idea what to do so he said, “Then I’ll see you in the morning.”

  As he left her room, Penny asked with a hint of panic in her voice, “Can you leave the door unlocked please?”

  He nodded and closed the door behind him.

  Penny decided to get ready for bed. When she opened her suitcase, she cursed as she looked at the pile of shear lace and silk. When packing, she had blindly grabbed nightgowns out of her drawer without looking and every item was not appropriate for mixed company. After she grabbed the one on top and changed, she crawled into bed. She lay staring at the television screen late into the night, but couldn’t have told anyone what she had watched. She finally gave up, turned everything off, and closed her eyes.

  Per her normal routine, she woke when it was still dark and shot up in bed. Her body was dripping in sweat, but this time it wasn’t from overheating. It was from the horrible dream that she woke from. With her pulse still racing, she wrapped herself up in a sheet and walked over to the adjoining door. As quietly as physically possible, she peeked into the room. To her extreme relief, the hinges didn’t squeak.

  Although Jax was in bed with his eyes closed, in reality he stirred the second she opened her eyes.

  There was only one bed in Jax’s room so she curled up in a recliner and stared at her roommate. She wanted desperately to be held, but knew that was an impossible request to make of her traveling companion. For lack of anything else to do, she scooted her chair up as close to the bed as she could get, careful not to wake the one sleeping. She curled up in the chair like a cat and tried to find a comfortable position. She planned to stay only until the sun started to rise so that she could sneak back into her room before Jax woke, but she fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.

  Jax opened his eyes when he sensed her deep breathing and was surprised to find Penny with her hands and feet stretched out toward him with her fingers inches from his hand. It looked as if she was reaching out to him. He crawled out of bed and carefully scooped Penny up into his arms. He tucked her in the spot he was lying in minutes before. He then took her former position in the chair and watched her sleep.

  When she woke hours later, she found herself still wrapped up in her sheet and in Jax’s bed with all of the pillows tucked next to her. She was using them like a body pillow and had them in a death grip. Jax was nowhere in sight. By the time she was dressed, he returned to the room with food. She was pleasantly surprised by his choice of hot tea and toast—exactly what she wanted. She had no idea that he even noticed what she had ordered the day before.

  As she nibbled on the bread, she said, “Sorry about last night. I woke from a bad dream and didn’t want to be alone, but you could’ve left me in the chair. I didn’t mean for you to give up your bed for me.”

  “It’s no big deal. I don’t need much sleep and you seemed more in need of the bed than me.”

  Less than an hour later, they were both in the Rover and heading down the road.

  Jax’s hunting instincts allowed him to feel Penny’s emotional state and he found it very difficult to deal with her projected pain. He needed a little fresh air and time on his own to clear his head so, when they stopped for lunch, he told her to go ahead and eat. He needed to stretch his legs.

  She agreed, knowing that her presence was weighing on him. She said apologetically, “Take as much time as you need. I’ll wait inside until you come and get me.”

  When he finally returned to the restaurant, he found her eating at a table with three construction workers. He watched as they took her bill and she walked away from the table with a full to go box.

  Once in the car, Jax said, “I see you found some friends to sit with.”

  “When I got to the restaurant, all of the tables were full. The three men had an open spot and offered for me to sit with them. They were very kind to me.”

  “Did they give you their cards too?” He couldn’t hide his annoyance at her continued popularity.

  “No,” she said with a smirk. In reality they wrote down their names and numbers on a napkin which she had tucked into her purse. She took it to be polite, but she never planned to call any of them. She added, “It did help to spend a little time with them to distract me.”

  It was becoming painfully obvious to Jax that Penny’s look of distress made her appear as a wounded kitten. She was actually attracting men like moths to a flame. He had to admit to himself that he didn’t like it. When he analyzed his feelings, he realized that his protective instincts toward Penny were getting stronger by the minute. He had to find a way to temper these feelings before his hidden nature took care of it his way.

  Before finding a place to stop for the night, in an attempt to show kindness, he stopped at a fast food restaurant that he had seen her eat at many times. Without thinking, he ordered her meal. She was shocked to hear him order exactly what she was thinking.

  As he handed her the food, she asked with a puzzled expression, “Are you psychic like Ben?”

  “No.” Realizing he was being a little too obvious with his knowledge of her life routines, he added, “I’m just a very good guesser.” Again, it was worth it when he saw out of the corner of his eye that she actually ate a little.

  They stopped at a nearby hotel and, when Jax was asked how many rooms, he looked down at Penny. Seeing the pleading look, he said, “Just one.”

  In appreciation, Penny added for Jax’s benefit, “With two beds.”

  Once they were settled in, they decided to call it a day.

  When she went to change and looked in her luggage, she only saw her skimpy nighties and no robe. She rolled her eyes at the next obstacle she had to climb over. When she noticed Jax staring at the black lace clenched in her hand, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I would be sharing a room with anyone so I grabbed what I normally wear.” When she looked over at Jax’s open suitcase, she asked, “May I use one of your shirts?”

  He tossed her a button up shirt and she headed into the bathroom. After a quick shower, she went to the sink to finish her nighttime routine. She didn’t notice Jax staring at her. Even though the shirt was way too large for her—to the point of looking silly—he found it just as arousing as seeing her in a negligée.

  She had never shared a bathroom with someone and Penny wasn’t even sure where to put her toiletries once she was done. To make it easier on her roommate, she repacked all of her items into their bag and neatly tucked it in a corner so that they wouldn’t be in his way.

  Jax had to quickly avert his eyes when she approached the bed. Once she was in her assigned spot safely under the covers, he walked over and handed her his extra pillows. She took them and asked, “Don’t you need these?”

  In his typical short to the point response, he replied, “No.”

  Penny was very grateful and, after adjusting her bedding, she grabbed onto Jax’s pillow tightly. Jax took a long, cold shower in an attempt to wash the intimate thoughts of his roommate that were quickly filling his mind.

  As the night went on, Penny tossed and turned, unable to calm enough to find sleep. Jax watched her tired and weary body stare up at the ceiling. Unable to handle his urge to take her into his arms, he got up, dressed, and headed out wordlessly into the night. Watching him leave caused a pain in her chest.

  Chapter 23 - Journey Continues

  Just as the night before, the morning routine was clumsy at best.
Both were overly polite trying to make the other feel more relaxed. Their efforts had the opposite effect and made the whole scene awkward and uncomfortable.

  The drive that day was long and silent. Penny could sense his growing frustration and assumed he was angry over being stuck with her. In reality, Jax’s mind kept wandering to the night before. He was taken aback by his desires to help her and wanting to hold her in his arms. In an attempt to force the old Ice to return to block what he considered inappropriate feelings given the situation, he attempted to convince himself that he killed Humans, not comforted them.

  While they drove down the road, Jax had hoped that Penny would sleep, but she spent the entire time silently staring out the window watching the world go by. He decided to make it another short day in hopes that she would get some much needed rest. He stopped at a restaurant and, after they ordered, he excused himself to call Sam. When he returned to his table, he noticed yet another man staring at Penny with interest. When the stranger got up to walk toward her table, Jax blocked his path and sat down with his intended target. The man quickly diverted his path to head in another direction, occasionally looking back between Penny and Jax.

  All through dinner, Jax was distracted. Every time a man looked toward their table, he knew they were all wondering why someone like Penny was with someone like himself. He had to wonder the same thing.

  After they were done with their meal where only minimal words were said, Penny used Jax’s phone to find them a place to stay for the night. Jax checked them in while Penny waited in the car. Although she feared he might have ordered two rooms, she exhaled in relief when they again shared a room. Although she knew that she was on her own in terms of physical comfort, for some reason, she couldn’t imagine being on this trip with anyone else. His silent strength called to her and, even without his touch, she desperately needed him at her side.

  Right after they settled into their room, Jax announced, “I’m going out for a while. Try to get some sleep.” He turned and walked out. Once the door was closed behind him, he took in a deep cleansing breath. His mind kept wandering to what she tasted like and he knew that he needed to get away from her for a while. He decided it was time for him to feed on something other than Human food.