Closer: A Novella

by Dannika Dark

  He kissed her on the nose and watched her long eyelashes flutter. “It was always for you, Angel.”

  This woman mattered and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. A unique link existed between them that was effortless and natural. One that had very little to do with their abilities as Sensors, and everything to do with the basic laws of attraction. His heart swelled within his chest and Kane knew that this was the woman he was meant to be with—Caroline was the woman that his heart was anchored to.

  He rubbed his nose against hers as his mouth moved lower. The tension between them became thick and magnetic. The first taste of her lips—hell, he almost groaned. They were so warm and giving, so unexpectedly familiar. His tongue stroked her bottom lip on the last kiss and his breath trembled. Damn, she was sweet like vanilla and cherries. Kane savored every moment; tasting her in the flesh surpassed anything that they had experienced inside her head.

  This was real.

  She shyly rubbed her nose against his and stepped back.

  Kane quietly chuckled as he thought about their kiss. “Why are you turning crimson? You act as if we’ve never—”

  “We haven’t,” she reminded him. Her shoe squeaked against the shiny floor as she lowered her eyes and shrugged with a lift of her shoulder. “Not for real. Do you want to sit with me and talk for a little bit? I walked all the way here and my feet are hurting in these new shoes. I didn’t wear any socks so they’ve been digging at my heels.”

  His eyes narrowed to razor-thin slivers. “You walked all the way here by yourself? These are dangerous streets, Caroline. I shouldn’t have to tell you that.” The timbre of his voice was flat and laced with disapproval. Kane pinched his left earlobe.

  Imagining her out on the streets alone flared up a surge of protectiveness, and what bothered him the most was that he was locked up and unable to look out for her. He collected himself when he noticed that she was touching his left hand and using her Sensor abilities to feel his anger. Concern wrapped around her expression.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d care. I promise I’ll take a cab next time.”

  “Next time?”

  She sat on her knees and Kane followed her lead, taking a seat on the floor and leaning on his left arm.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he looked over her body.

  Caroline twisted her elbow, showing him a few Band-aids. “I’ll live.”

  He released a long sigh after hearing those two words, and it felt like he could breathe again.

  “The reason I’m here, Kane, is because they gave me permission to break the news of your sentence.” Her eyes lifted slowly to meet his and when she tilted her head, a few strands of hair slipped across her face. “I talked to a bunch of men on the committee and told them everything that happened. At least, as much as you had told me. After they took you away, the Chitah stayed behind. He said that he sensed something was off and examined my body. That’s when I came out of it. I was screaming out your name, but you weren’t there.”

  They found each other’s hands between the bars. It seemed like such a natural thing to do since all the time they had spent together they’d been connected by touch.

  “The Chitah took care of me, but I refused to let him… you know… lick me.”

  Kane knew. Chitahs could heal superficial wounds with a stroke of their tongue, and if he’d found out another man’s tongue had been on Caroline, he might have gone ballistic.

  “Anyhow,” she continued, “they called a Relic who showed up right away. Not much could be done at that point, and it took me a couple of days to shake off what happened. I told them everything—including how you saved me. They considered all of the facts and reduced your sentence. I tried to convince them to set you free, given the fact that you saved my life, but they were firm on punishing you for the original crime. It didn’t matter that the human life you took held no value, and that he was a devil on the loose. You saved more lives than mine, Kane. So,” she said with a proud smile, “you only have to serve a year.”

  A year. Damn, why did that seem like such a long time?

  He flinched when her nail dug into his hand. “Don’t feel that way about it. They wanted to lock you up for eighty-five years, so I think that’s a pretty good deal.”

  “You did that… for me?”

  A radiant smile brightened her face, along with the pale shimmer of lipstick that he could still taste on his tongue. “I was given special visitation rights, so I get to come up here whenever I want to. Well, as long as it’s within visiting hours. Guess what else?” she asked with excitement in her voice.

  He almost got up, but rubbed his palm down the cotton fabric of his navy blue pants instead. “How can you be so damn happy about coming to a prison to visit with a criminal?”

  Caroline reached between the bars and grabbed him by his collar with a tight fist.

  “Because, you idiot, that criminal stole my heart,” she said with a playful smile. “I think that entitles me to visitation rights, don’t you? Before you so rudely interrupted me, they said I’m allowed to bring you food. Of course, they made a big deal about silverware.”

  Her thin-lipped snarl relaxed into a smile and Kane failed miserably at concealing his grin.

  “Do you want me to contact your sister and tell her where you are?”

  Kane thought about it and shook his head. “No, I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want her to see me in here. She doesn’t know I’m a Sensor—she’d never accept this world.”

  That’s why he had been distancing himself from her over the past couple of years, because his aging had slowed down in his mid-twenties, and soon enough, Sunny would appear older than him.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t underestimate what people are willing to accept in their lives.”

  While she was talking, Kane reached out and lightly dabbed his finger on her cheek. She fell silent and watched him with curious eyes. He turned his wrist up and held out his finger, showing her the eyelash. No words were exchanged; she simply blew it off and they went on as normal.

  Caroline leaned to her left and grabbed a sack with Coyote Burger written on the side in swirly letters. She unrolled the top and pulled out a burger wrapped in paper, and a side of onion rings. They were the big patties he liked, which came with extra pickles. And when his stomach growled, Caroline snickered.

  “Guess that means I won’t be getting anymore kisses,” he said, nodding at the onion rings. She might as well have brought a clove of garlic.

  “Well, if you’re going to be that way about it…”

  She slid the box in front of her and lifted an onion ring to her mouth. Kane snatched it from her hand and she laughed. They quietly sat there, watching each other as they ate a side order of onion rings. It was fucking great. Kane couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a good time, and here he was, sitting in a prison cell sharing his lunch with a beautiful woman who was willing to wait a year for him.

  He took the time to absorb everything about Caroline—the way her left eyebrow lifted up when she was giving him sass, and her little habit of clearing her throat when she was nervous.

  “So, I was thinking,” Caroline began, “that when you get out of here, we can go shopping for an apartment together. Is that rushing?” She licked the ketchup from her thumb and watched him indirectly.

  “I won’t have a job.”

  Caroline swirled her finger in the ketchup. “Don’t be so pessimistic. You’ll find work.”

  “This will be on my permanent Breed record,” he reminded her, twirling his finger around to point out his surroundings. “It’s not easy for an ex-con to find work unless you have family who will help.”

  She leaned forward and placed her face between the bars. “It’ll work out, Kane. I promise. I don’t need to be with a rich man, and I have a job to help pay the bills. We’ll do this together.”

  Kane reached out and captured her wrist, gently pulling her hand through the bars. He kept his eye
s locked on hers as he licked the dollop of ketchup from her index finger, and then went back to eating as if nothing had happened between them. She blushed wildly and he smiled, dusting the crumbs off his hands. That’s when he noticed the red scar on her head.

  “Does it hurt?” he asked, his voice edged with concern.

  Her eyes widened and she reached up to touch it. “You want me to compare a cut to dying? While we’re on this topic, do you mind explaining why you superglued my head together?”

  That got him, and Kane completely lost it. He fell on his back, laughing harder than he had in years.

  “It’s not funny, Kane.”

  Oh God, but it was. His laughter was maniacal and hearing her seriousness made it even worse.

  Caroline slapped his leg and tried to pretend she was mad, telling him to stop. His side hurt and he developed one of those embarrassingly silly laughs that men just don’t want anyone to hear. He snorted and finally turned on his side, realizing he’d just killed any chance of keeping this woman around.

  “I’m so glad I’m snort-worthy,” she remarked.

  When the stitch in his side went away, Kane sat up, rubbing his sore face.

  Caroline was smiling. “Can we do this for real?” she asked. “I want a real date.”

  A hopeful look flashed in her eyes as she nervously tore at the edge of the wrapper. He felt the connection just as surely as she did—as if they were old lovers rediscovering one another after meeting up in a new life. They’d gotten to know each other on such a personal level and yet everything felt like the first time.

  This was real.

  “Okay,” he agreed, scooting towards the bars. “As long as you don’t mention to our kids where we had our first date. Deal?”

  Her apple cheeks blossomed and she lifted her lovely eyes. They were earthy and so full of life and kindness. She gave him a short nod, and he nodded back.

  “What’s your full name?”

  “Caroline Marie Potter.”

  He almost spit out the onion ring he had just eaten. “Your last name is Potter?”

  Her lips shrank into thin lines. “Yeah.”

  “And you like to go by Carrie?”

  “Don’t say it,” she warned, waving a finger. “I didn’t have any problems until those books came out. My turn.” She unwrapped another burger and pulled out a pickle, tossing it into her mouth. “Where were you born?”

  “California. Why would you want to waste a year of your life visiting a murderer?”

  “One who saved my life? Next question,” she said.

  He pulled the edge of the wrapper near the bars and fed her a pickle. She happily took it and shifted her legs to sit Indian style.

  “Favorite food?” she asked.

  “Fish tacos.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Ew.”

  Kane arched a brow. “Since when did you become the culinary snob?”

  “Since you started putting a sea animal into a tortilla.”

  “Fish,” he corrected.

  She waved a hand. “Whatever. So tell me, do you have a nickname? You seem to enjoy teasing me about mine.”

  Kane clamped his mouth shut and scratched the side of his neck.

  Her eyes brightened. “This should be good. Tell me.”

  Shit. He couldn’t lie to this woman. He looked her straight in the eye and spoke in a serious voice. “Snoopy.”

  His sister had given him the nickname and it was something that only she called him. He waited for her to laugh and make fun of it, but the muscles relaxed in her face and she chewed slowly—thoughtfully.

  “I like that you’re honest with me, Kane. I’m sure there’s a story behind it that you’ll tell me someday.”

  “Do you mind that I call you Caroline? I can stop if it bothers you.” He hadn’t thought about it, but maybe there was a reason why she went by the shorter version.

  Soft hair shook in front of her face. “No. I don’t mind at all. Favorite color?”

  Easy, he thought. When he spoke, his voice was thick like honey. “Red.”

  Caroline twisted her mouth to the side and leaned forward with a doubtful look. “I thought it was blue?”

  He looked at her blouse admiringly. “Today it’s red.”

  “Why?” she asked. A tiny line pinched between her brows.

  Kane wedged his face between the bars. He knew his eyes were doing that seduction thing again by the way she averted her gaze. The charm on her neck glittered in the light and constricted his heart.

  “Because of this,” he said, touching the soft fabric of her blouse. “You wore this for me. Ask what my favorite color is ten years from now and it’s going to be red.”

  “Ten years?” she asked in disbelief.

  Kane lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. He smoothed the hair away from her face, gently touching the scar that she would carry for years to come. She closed her eyes for a moment and he felt her, and she was glowing with hope. When he had her full attention, his hand slid down her arm until his fingertips curled around her wrist. With that touch he felt her pulse, her warmth, her life, and he wanted to prove his sincerity to a woman who looked at him with such adoration and yet wasn’t afraid to put him in his place.

  Kane didn’t save her that night—she’d saved him.

  “My turn, Angel. How many kids do you want?” he asked. “Because when I get out of here, you and me are making lots of babies.”

  To read more about Sensors and other paranormals, search for books available by Dannika Dark on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

  The Mageri series is an exciting urban fantasy romance following the journey of a young woman's claim to immortality, and her own identity. Dark, unique, and full of unpredictable twists, the Mageri series provides an original spin to an old concept. Sometimes ordinary people are destined for extraordinary lives.

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