by Ladew, Lisa
“Step over here, that’s right, now─”
He fumbled with the equipment on the counter, opening and closing lids and pulling out paper, then pushing it back. After a few moments, he seemed to get what he wanted. An inkpad and a roll of paper on a block she recognized from TV. She would have thought all of this would be digital by now.
He looked at her and held out his hand. “Your hand, please,” he said in a low, quiet voice.
She lifted her hand and he took it gently. His fingers were warm and strong, and she sucked in a breath at the feel of his skin on hers.
“Just relax, let me do all the work,” he said in a low voice she thought was unbearably sexy, running his other hand down her arm to her elbow and pulling her forward slightly. The scent of red-hots filled her nose and saliva squirted into her mouth.
Heather shuddered and took the step forward, feeling the warmth from his skin spread through her body. She fought letting her eyes roll back in her head. Just a simple touch. Nothing sexual about it. And all she could do was wish he would touch her all over her body in that exact same way. She could see it in her mind, his fingers dipping under her shirt, gliding across her belly, sliding around to her back, going lower to cup her buttocks─
She bit the inside of her lip and tried to get herself under control as he looked her in the eyes, his expression confused. Her eyes found his mouth. Would his lips be soft? Would his manner be harsh or commanding? Or would he be gentle? They stood, locked like that for a moment, until he cleared his throat again and maneuvered her hand so her thumb touched the ink pad. The cool wetness of the ink shocked her slightly, pulling her back to herself. He moved her hand so her thumb touched the paper and he rolled her thumb so that, when he pulled her hand back, a smeared thumb print was left there. She thought he would want to redo it but no, he began moving through her fingers quickly until he let go and asked for her other hand.
When it was all over, he stepped away from her quickly and offered her a towel to wipe her hands on.
She took several slow breaths and stared at the floor as she cleaned the ink from her fingers.
“That’s it,” he said, his baritone voice cutting through the haze in her mind.
She looked up. “I’m arrested?”
He nodded. “Aye.”
“What now?”
He didn’t answer for a moment and she got the strange feeling he didn’t know. But then he spoke.
“You’ll get a court date in the mail.”
“Then what?”
Again, that small pause. “You’ll want to get a lawyer. If you can’t afford one, you can ask the court to appoint you one.”
“Oh,” she said. This was all becoming too real. “Will I go to jail?”
Another pause. “The judge will sentence you. Most likely you’ll get community service since it’s your first offense.”
She nodded like it all made sense. “Ok. I ah, I can go, then?”
He pointed to the door. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Ok, right.” Why? she screamed inside her head. If he didn’t like her, why was he walking her to her car? She was certain no other officer would do that.
Within a moment, they were outside in the parking lot. She headed towards the area she remembered parking in the day before. It didn’t matter what he thought of her or her car now. She knew he wasn’t interested.
But he is, a small voice inside her whispered, punching her in the gut. He walked next to her and one step behind her and as she really thought about it, she knew that voice was right. He was interested, he was just holding back for some reason. The age thing, it had to be.
She didn’t care about his age. He shouldn’t care about hers. They could get over that.
She stopped walking and faced him. “I never properly thanked you for lunch yesterday. Can I take you out when you get your lunch break? I’ll pay.”
He didn’t look at her, but instead his attention was pulled by two large officers near the door that led inside. His eyes narrowed and he answered while looking at them. “That would be great. Benihana again?”
“I was thinking of something more simple.”
He looked at her then and his smile almost knocked her over.
“I adore simple.”
Chapter 16
Graeme strolled along the river path, bouncing lightly as he walked. He would be miserable in another six hours, but for now, his world was the best it had ever been.
The sky was overcast, but the expanse of the river made up for it, reflecting the silver clouds in a manner that made the day seem brighter. Heather walked to his right and her manner was easy, happy.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked him, pulling her hat out of her pocket and putting it back on her head.
“I dinnae get cold much,” he admitted, turning up his thermostat a tiny bit, just enough to warm her. He hated the thought of her uncomfortable for even a second.
She looked ahead of them on the path. “There he is. Jim’s Hot Dog Cart. I hope you don’t mind hot dogs. His are amazing, especially the chili and onions dog, and it’s early yet so we won’t have to wait in line long.”
Graeme looked where her attention was fixed. A small, boxy, white vehicle was parked along the path and queues of people radiated out from a window on the side. An enticing smell of salty meat and fried vegetables reached him.
“Smells good.” He would try anything once, but he hadn’t realized the people in Serenity actually ate dogs, if that was indeed what was in a hot dog. He wondered what the wolven thought of that.
They waited their turn, Heather alternately smiling at him and looking down at the ground. His mind cast back to the feeling of her skin when he printed her fingers and how much pure will it had taken not to slide his hand around her neck and take her mouth with his own.
“Don’t you have work today?” he asked, realizing he didn’t even know what she did. If she had to be somewhere that afternoon, it would be time for him to make his exit.
She peeked at him under her lashes. “No, I took a few days off.”
He grunted. That plan was no good. “What do you do?”
Her face flooded with crimson. “I run the crematorium at my father’s funeral home.”
He stared at her, a new appreciation blooming in his chest. He knew she was fiery, feisty, and everyone he met in this new age was interesting to him, but she had an added dimension, didn’t she? “You burn the dead bodies?”
She made a show of studying the menu on the side of the tiny vehicle so she didn’t have to look at him. “Honestly, all I do is run the furnace. I have assistants who prepare the bodies.”
He watched her face closely. “Is it a big furnace?”
She was able to look at him then, and her eyes lit up with as much love for fire as he’d ever seen in any dragen.
She told him the statistics for her furnace like another woman would recite the birth weights of her children, but she was interrupted by the man in the hot dog vehicle asking for their orders.
Heather ordered automatically. “A chili dog with extra onions and a hot tea.”
“Got it, and you?” the man said, turning to Graeme.
“Make it two.”
The vendor nodded and disappeared into his vehicle.
Heather pulled some bills out of her pocket and put them on the counter in front of them. “What about you? Do you have any family in Serenity? You don’t seem like you’ve been here for long.”
Graeme shook his head. “I had two brothers, but both are gone.”
“Oh, Graeme, I’m sorry.”
Graeme looked out at the river. “Thank ye.”
The vendor brought them their dogs and they found a bench to sit at, balancing their tea on the seat between them. Graeme sniffed his dog and frowned. “This is cow.”
Her eyes flicked upwards. “All beef hot dogs. Do you not eat beef?”
“I eat any meat,” he said, then tried a bite of it, taking care not to spill any of
the chili or onions piled high on top. Excellent. A flavor combination he’d never experienced before. He would go back and order more if he could dissuade her from paying for him.
He finished his ‘hot dog’ in two more bites then turned to Heather. “You work with your father?” he said, knowing he shouldn’t be asking, but wanting desperately to know more about her.
She grimaced strangely, then looked at the river as she answered. “We all do. Mom and my brother, too.”
Graeme watched her eat her food slowly and plied her with questions about her family, wanting to hear everything about her life. He would remember the sound of her voice and the cadence of her words for a lifetime.
She ended up telling him about her mother in the stilted way that people do when they want to be kind even to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
“She sounds quite formidable,” Graeme said.
“Formidable? I guess. I would describe her as mean and controlling. Sometimes I think she hates everyone.”
“She loves you.”
She looked at him with her eyebrows tight over her eyes. “You call that love?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes when one has been hurt, their love can be painful to bear.”
She didn’t say anything for a long time so he changed the subject, which she went along with easily.
They sat on the bench alongside the river for the rest of the afternoon, in simple conversation that made him long to be someone─ something different.
***
Heather threw her head back and laughed. Graeme’s humor was aged, but much more refined and witty than anything she’d ever heard her father say. She couldn’t believe they’d been on the park bench for so many hours. They’d gotten up to walk down the path a bit, then returned to the bench to talk more. He seemed endlessly fascinated with popular culture and the little things she liked, including what kind of food she liked to eat and her hobbies. She hadn’t mentioned her pets but told him all about glass blowing.
Lunch had come and gone, and the park had cleared out like it was bitterly cold. She could see ice forming on the edge of the river but the afternoon felt unseasonably warm to her. Maybe it was the low cloud cover. She’d taken off her hat and unzipped her jacket hours ago.
Even the hot dog vendor had disappeared. She looked around. “We’re the only two left out here.”
He nodded. “Darkness will come early tonight. Snow will fly soon. People are bedding down early for the winter.”
Heather looked up at the sky. She couldn’t tell if snow would fall or not, but for some reason she believed him. She looked at him shyly. Was she brave enough to invite him to her place yet? She wanted to desperately.
As if he sensed her intention, he stood and waited for her to stand, too. When he spoke, his tone was stilted, his voice guarded, “Thank you again for the most lovely afternoon I’ve had in many years. I should get you home now. The hour is late and I have somewhere to be.”
Heather stared at him. It was a dismissal if she’d ever heard one. He hadn’t even asked for her phone number. Her throat closed up almost completely and she fought with her frozen vocal cords to speak. She thrust her hands jerkily into her jacket pockets. “I don’t need to be walked home. I’m a big girl. Goodbye.”
She turned on her heel and blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. She didn’t even know what direction she was headed. Away from him, that was all she cared about. She didn’t even care if she was overreacting. She was done with him. It hurt too much.
She heard footsteps behind her and she stopped, turning to face him. He was right behind her. “That was not a request. Don’t follow me.” Her voice was sharper than she wanted it to be, but it made her heart glad to see him wince.
He held up his hands and tried to say something but Heather plowed right over his explanation. She’d had enough. “You know, I’m not sure what I did to deserve being led on by you, but here’s a little lesson for you. It’s not nice to mess with people’s emotions. I don’t know what kind of issues you’ve got, or exactly what your problem is, but next time you want to just have a lovely afternoon with someone, don’t send all the signals you’ve been sending since the first time you saw me. It’s just mean.”
She turned again and stalked off, the blood in her ears pounding so hard she couldn’t tell if he was following her or not. It really didn’t matter, though. She was done with him. She got too loopy around him to keep hanging on, waiting for him to throw her a bone.
The park ended, but the wide asphalt path continued through the forest, the beginning of Big Claw Woods. Ordinarily, Heather would not have walked that path alone, but there was no way she was going to turn around and face Graeme. She knew a side path that would get her into the residential area next to hers. Then she could go home and have another good cry. Do her best to forget the sexiest man she’d ever met even existed.
After ten minutes of hard walking, her head began to clear a bit. She had overreacted. But she didn’t care. He had dismissed her, she knew he had. He was interested in her, but he just wouldn’t let himself go for it for some reason. If only she would have been nicer to him, maybe someday he might have gotten over whatever the issue was and─ No! she cut off that line of thinking. This way was better.
A screaming sound to her right stopped her in her tracks. It sounded like a wild animal caught in a trap, but also strangely human-like. Her heartbeat sped up as adrenaline dumped into her bloodstream. She knew there were mountain lions in Big Claw Woods, but she’d never heard of one so close to the city. She looked behind her, but the path that way was empty. Just when she could have used a police officer the size of a football player, he finally decided to listen to her and disappear. Great.
“Hello?” she called. “Do you need help?”
She felt ridiculous, calling out to what was probably a wild animal, but she had to be sure. The scream sounded again and this time it had an element in it that made her think of a child. A young girl, maybe, lost and afraid. She shook her head, knowing there was no young girl out there. But also knowing she wouldn’t leave the area until she was certain.
The forest was dark, the canopy of trees thick over her head. She looked down at her feet, realizing she had already strayed off the manicured path into the underbrush. She took out her phone and turned on the flashlight, trying to think if she knew anything about mountain lions. Would noise scare them away? No, that was bears. Some bears.
“Hello?” she called loudly again, taking a few more steps over needles and wispy weeds. “Is anyone there?”
A slight whisper of a voice startled her, making her step backwards. She couldn’t tell what had been said, but she thought the voice was male. A dank, unpleasant smell hit her nose, making her wince. A deep fear shot through her, intuition telling her there was something very wrong going on in the woods. A vision of a kidnapping or something worse shot through her mind so quickly she almost choked on it. She turned her phone to her face and pressed the picture of the old-fashioned handset, her hands shaking. “I’ve called 911!” she screamed into the gloomy forest. “Cops are going to be here any second! You better stop whatever you’re doing!”
A hand fell on her shoulder and she whirled around, biting back a scream.
Chapter 17
Graeme held up his hands. “It’s just me. What’s going on in there?”
Heather sagged visibly. “Oh, thank God. I don’t know. I thought I heard someone screaming. It might be a wild animal but I couldn’t take that chance. It feels wrong.”
Graeme nodded. She had good instincts. He’d smelled Khain as soon as he’d gotten close to where she’d stepped off the path, but his intuition said Khain was not there. But something bad was definitely going on. Maybe he’d just left. “More officers are on their way.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, and turned back to the forest, holding up her light. “Ew,” she said.
“What?”
“Look, there, see all the spider webs?”
&n
bsp; Graeme looked where she was pointing her light. Huge webs were strung between dozens of trees as high as a man’s head, webs with strands as thick as string, like the spider who had made it was as big as a horse. He tried to pull Heather back to the path. He knew what was responsible for the scene. He’d experienced this before.
She shook him off. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said, walking farther into the forest.
A soft mournful sound came from their left and Heather swung her light that way. “Oh!” she cried, then rushed forward and knelt on the ground, pulling a small kitten out of the web it was caught in.
She turned with the kitten in her arms, her face full of concern, trying to rub off the cobwebs that had shut the kitten’s eyes. “How did you get out here, little guy? Where’s your momma?”
It was a pitiful little thing, mostly white except for a bare patch of light skin on its right shoulder, and another on its left, plus tufts of black hair on both ears. It yowled and trembled in her arms.
“There’s another,” Graeme said, pointing just behind the first web.
Heather shuddered. “Look at all the spiders!”
The ground seemed to be littered with them, moving and breathing with them as they climbed over each other to get nowhere. Their sharp, leggy boundary stopped a few feet from where Heather stood.
“Yuck,” she said, clutching the kitten to her chest. She looked at Graeme. “This is impossible, you know. A spider can’t catch a kitten in its web.”
Graeme pointed again, then picked his way over the spiders, watching them scurry away from him. “How about a full-size cat?”
“Oh!” she cried again. “How many are there?”
“I don’t know. Four? Five?” They didn’t look good, either. Graeme poked one with his boot and it opened its eyes to look at him, then shut them again.
He took Heather’s light from her and held it high. “Is there such a thing as an animal rescue in this city?”
Heather shot him a strange look, then nodded, still trying to pull the cobwebs off the kitten in her arms. “I can call them. But not in here. It’s too creepy.”
