Going Nowhere

by Abbie Zanders

  Together, we fixed a hearty stew and baked fresh bread. The sheer normality of it was soothing. I took great comfort in my grandmother and was eternally grateful she seemed to understand when I needed time.

  Several hours later, Gram asked me to take some of the stew and bread over to Reid, who had been using the plow on his truck on the long driveway all day, trying to keep up with the blizzard. She laughed about how boys never changed, except for getting bigger toys.

  I wanted to say no, but I didn’t. Reid had been a huge help. Because he had been out there, taking care of things, I had been able to stay inside, warm and dry. An offering of food was the least I could do. If I were truly honest with myself, I would also have to admit that I kind of wanted to see him again. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something oddly soothing about being around him.

  Reid MacIntyre made me feel safe. Maybe it was because he seemed so strong and capable. Maybe it was because he’d shown no interest in me whatsoever. I suspected it was a bit of both.

  “Hi,” I greeted when he opened the door in response to my knocking. Not exactly brilliant or original banter, but even that one word had taken some effort.

  His hair hung loose and wet around his face, his tawny skin flushed and smelling like some kind of manly soap. A white tee-shirt strained across the muscles of his chest, and the gray sweats he wore did amazing things for his powerful legs. But it was his warm smile and sparkling eyes that had my heart doing funny little flips.

  “I come bearing gifts,” I finally managed, holding out the basket of food Gram had prepared.

  He stepped aside and invited me in. “Isn’t there some kind of saying to be wary of Greeks bearing gifts?” he teased.

  “You know I am half-Greek?” I asked in surprise.

  “Grace might have mentioned it.”

  Oh. Well, I supposed that made sense. Roger had made me both suspicious and paranoid, and I hated him for that.

  Reid took the basket from me and began to lay items out on the table. “It smells wonderful. Did you make this?”

  “I helped. Gram is the culinary genius. I just do what she tells me.”

  “Hmph.” It was a quiet sound, but decidedly male.

  “What?”

  “Why do I have a hard time believing you do anything people tell you to?”

  I stared at him for a moment, saw the glimmer of amusement in his eyes, and felt my own lips twitching. “You are very perceptive, Mr. MacIntyre.”

  “Reid,” he corrected. “And yes, I am.”

  “Modest, too.”

  “Are you mocking me, Miss Laskaris?”

  “Not at all,” I replied, opting for the little white lie. “And if you insist on me calling you Reid, then you must call me Alyx.”

  He smiled, and heavens, I felt it all the way down to my toes. “Will you share this with me, Alyx?”

  “I already ate, but thank you. I really should get back to Gram.”

  His amusement seemed to increase. “Needs watching, does she?”

  “You have no idea,” I said on a laugh. I remained at the door, shifting my weight, wondering why I couldn’t seem to force my feet back over the threshold and outside. “Besides, I should try to get some more rest before I have to get back to the hospital.”

  Reid’s eyes darkened from a beautiful, mossy green to a stunning emerald. “The roads are closed.”

  “Hospitals don’t shut down because of the weather,” I told him. “If I can’t make it in on my own, the National Guard will send someone out for me. I already called. They’ll be here at six.”

  A muscle in his jaw twitched as if that thought did not sit well with him. Whatever he was thinking, he wisely kept it to himself.

  “Suit yourself, then. Give me a moment, then you can take this basket back with you.”

  As Reid reached for something in the cupboard, my eyes were drawn to his right leg. Dark stains were seeping through, stains that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. “Are you bleeding?”

  “It’s nothing.” Avoiding my eyes, he turned away and began to unload the sealed containers from the basket.

  “The hell it is. Sit down and let me have a look.”

  His entire body stiffened. “Excuse me?”

  “Hello?” I said, taking off my hat and scarf and tossing them in a pile alongside the door. “Nurse, remember?”

  “It’s nothing,” he repeated, more forcefully this time. “And didn’t you just say you needed to be going?”

  * * *

  Reid

  Hands on those curvy hips, she narrowed her eyes and glared at me. She was sexy as hell when she was fired up. “Sit. Down.”

  With the exception of my CO, I wasn’t used to people ordering me around, especially not gorgeous goddesses with eyes that haunted my soul.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and fixed her with a look that had sent grown men running for cover. Instead of running, though, Alyx’s eyes turned all liquid and hypnotic, and she stepped toward me instead of away.

  She put a hand on my arm. It was just a light touch, but it sent currents of electricity straight through my chest and right into my balls.

  “Please?”

  How the hell was I supposed to resist that?

  Before I could stop myself, I was sitting, and she was on her knees before me, gently lifting my sweats up to my knee. Every time her fingers brushed my leg, it felt like a stroke to my cock.

  “I thought you worked with kids,” I tried, my voice more growly than usual as my wolf fought for control. Having her on her knees in front of me was just a little too close to one of the many fantasies I’d had in the last twenty-four hours.

  “Some bigger than others,” she said with a smirk. “Take them off.”

  I glared at her. Was she kidding? She had no idea who she was dealing with, or how close she was to being licked, bitten, and fucked into bliss.

  “This extends up your whole leg.”

  “I am quite aware of the extent of my injuries.” My voice was a low, warning growl. Hopefully, she would take more heed of that than she had of my glare, which seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

  “Then you know how important it is to treat them properly.”

  So much for that. Perhaps reason would work.

  “Alyx, you do realize you are alone in a man’s kitchen, a man you don’t know, I might add, in the middle of a blizzard, asking him to remove his pants.”

  At least that got a reaction.

  As her face flushed a vivid shade of red, I ran with it.

  “A man who is a whole lot bigger and stronger than you. Do you not have an ounce of self-preservation instinct?”

  Her eyes dropped submissively. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. I could practically hear her arguing with herself, her desire to help warring with her common sense.

  “You won’t hurt me, Reid,” she finally said. Her voice was quiet as she rested her fingers on my knee, her head tilted up at me, those haunting eyes playing havoc with my common sense. It was as if she could see right down into my fucking soul.

  “You know that, do you?” I let just enough darkness seep into the words to get my point across. I wanted her to run, almost as much as I wanted her to stay.

  “Yes,” she said, her voice stronger now. “I know that.”

  Her eyes were unwavering. Her trust, humbling. And incredibly stupid. And absolutely right. Shit.

  Against my better judgment, I eased down the sweatpants from my injured leg only, grateful I had not gone commando. Then I hastily bunched the material in my lap to hide my stiff cock. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t notice.

  Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on my injured leg. “Looks like you reopened some recent wounds.” Her hands were warm and gentle, and felt far too good on my bare skin.

  I clenched my jaw tight enough to snap a few molars, had I been human. All I could think about was how glad I was that she worked with children, because the thought of her touching another man like this
was enough to send my wolf completely over the edge. He, and I, were barely hanging on as it was.

  “I have some butterfly tape in my apartment.”

  Oh no, we weren’t extending this any longer than necessary.

  “There’s a medical kit over there,” I told her, lifting my chin toward the huge metal box next to the door that led out to the garage. It stood about five feet high and had multiple pull-out drawers, like those commonly found in an auto repair shop. “Second drawer from the top.”

  * * *

  Alyx

  The chest was filled with supplies, many of which were not readily available over the counter. It made the small first-aid kit I kept at my place pale in comparison.

  “Get hurt often, do you?”

  He didn’t answer.

  The unmistakable aura of danger surrounding him shouldn’t have excited me as much as it did. Being this close to him was like being next to a large predator in a cage, and I was seriously considering sticking my beef-basted hand through the bars.

  Those green eyes fixed upon me, intense and hungry. Though he remained perfectly still, I could sense his restlessness swirling around me, quickening my pulse. I also knew that, despite his macho man front, he was hurting, and my touch could help him.

  I also believed what I had said earlier—Reid would not hurt me. Everyone else, maybe. But not me.

  I stared right back at him, awaiting his answer. Unbelievably, he blinked first.

  “Occupational hazard.”

  Fair enough. He didn’t go into detail, and I hadn’t really expected him to. Those of us with boundaries understood how to respect them.

  I cleaned his wounds and taped him up, sending some of my healing energy into him in the process. Just a smidge, laced with a bit of pain relief I would attribute to the lidocaine in the salve if pressed. Anything more would be too obvious. I had learned to keep my secrets.

  I would let him keep his, too.

  While I was washing my hands at the sink, he slipped away, muttering something about changing into a clean pair of pants. I was glad. I needed a few moments to gather my wits. My hands still tingled from the feel of his corded muscles and my panties were noticeably damper than they had been when I had arrived. At least my heart rate was returning to normal, pre-Reid-touching levels.

  “Thank you,” he said when he came back into the kitchen, sporting a pair of jeans. He looked damn good in those, too.

  “You’re welcome.”

  I stifled the urge to thank him. The memory of those legs and ... other things was enough to fuel a few late-night fantasies for several nights to come.

  Though he had tried to hide it, he had been aroused. His manhood was as large as the rest of him. I couldn’t help imagining what it would feel like to have that inside me ...

  Shaking off my lusty thoughts until I could get back to my place and do something about them, I picked up my coat and began to slip it on. Before I got one arm in its sleeve, though, Reid was suddenly behind me, sending every hyper-alert sense into overdrive.

  “Alyx, don’t leave yet. Please.”

  I turned around, wishing a moment later I hadn’t. I was face-to-face with his incredibly hard, muscled chest. It did nothing to help my resolve. On the contrary, I had the compelling urge to lift the hem of that white tee and press my lips to those hard planes. A lick here, a bite there ...

  “Why not?”

  He hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure how to answer that. For some inexplicable reason, that slight pause of uncertainty further weakened my defenses. Well, that and the fact that he had said “please.”

  “Because I like your company.”

  I blinked at his admission. “You do?”

  He nodded, half of his mouth curving into an incredibly sexy smile. “Besides,” he said with a grin, “if you leave now, I’ll just feel cheap and used.”

  And there went the last of my desire to leave. I could fight his good looks, his manners, and his neighborly kindness, but add in a sense of humor and my defenses crumbled like Double Stuf Oreos in a hot cup of good coffee.

  “Well,” I said between chuckles, “I certainly wouldn’t want you to doubt your self-worth.”

  Chapter Six

  Reid

  I was on dangerous ground, and I didn’t care. Alyx sat on my big, comfortable sofa, legs tucked up beneath her as she watched me with curious, wary eyes. I sat across from her in an equally comfortable chair, enjoying the delicious stew and homemade bread. My injured leg was propped up on a hassock at Alyx’s suggestion. It was totally unnecessary, of course, but I considered it a small compromise to keep her around for a while longer.

  The full-brunt of the Nor’easter was upon us, but in my living room, we were warm and cozy, a fire blazing in the hearth. My wolf protested the short distance separating us, but for the first time in a very long time, my ragged soul was at peace.

  “This hot chocolate is amazing,” she said, drawing her tongue across those luscious lips. I imagined them pressing against my skin, wrapping around various parts of my body. “Secret family recipe?”

  “Oh yeah.” I laughed, surprised that it came so easily. I dropped my voice. “Top secret. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

  Her eyes glistened. “I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

  “Are you now?” I murmured thoughtfully, not doubting it. That odd current of energy I had felt when she had cleaned my wounds was probably one of them. My leg felt better now than it had before that IED had nearly severed it.

  I was now convinced that my initial assessment had been correct. Alyx was more than human. A healer, if I had to guess. I had heard rumors of such creatures, but they were extremely rare. And extremely valuable. I would bet my claws that whatever she was running from had something to do with that.

  “Mmhmm,” she hummed. “For example, I will never tell anyone about that little identifying mark you have.”

  I almost choked. I had only one birthmark, a half-moon shape high on my inner right thigh. “You were peeking.”

  She laughed, her eyes twinkling with equal parts amusement and lust. At least, that was what it looked like to me. I could have been wrong, but I didn’t think so. Over the scents of aged cedar and hearty beef stew, her unique musk tickled my nose.

  “I admit nothing.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  I wanted to ask her if she liked what she had seen. She knew it, too. Those expressive eyes dared me to. I decided not to take the bait.

  “Peppermint patties and milk.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “My secret recipe. A few peppermint patties and milk, nuked for a minute. Stirred, not shaken.”

  Her eyes softened as if I had shared something important. “Ah ha. Now I know.”

  “Now you know.”

  Alyx went back to staring into the hypnotic flames of the fire. She stifled a yawn and shifted slightly. I watched through half-lidded eyes, waiting. Eventually, her eyes drifted shut and her head listed to the side, resting on the back of the sofa.

  Finally.

  I stood quietly and eased the empty mug from her hands before tucking a blanket around her. The woman was exhausted, had been fighting to stay awake. I wondered when the last time was she’d had a decent night’s sleep.

  I took a moment just to look at her. She was so beautiful. Here, in my house, on my couch, she had finally relaxed enough to let go.

  I brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She gave a soft, contented sigh at my touch, one that made my wolf howl and my chest burn. Then I did something I didn’t dare do when she was awake. I leaned down and brushed the softest of kisses on her forehead. In her sleep, Alyx smiled.

  * * *

  Alyx

  I woke slowly with the disorientation that came with being in a strange place. For a brief moment, panic overtook me until I realized where I was. I was in Reid’s house. I remembered sipping hot chocolate in front of the fire, thinking ho
w I should be going so I could try to grab an hour or two of sleep before the National Guardsmen showed up. But the fire had been so warm, and the couch so comfortable. The thick, creamy hot chocolate had settled in my belly, making me pleasantly drowsy. Reid had been there, watching over me. I had felt so safe in his presence, as if nothing bad would happen to me when he was around ...

  Shaking myself free of those dangerous feelings, I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. The room was dark, except for the flickering glow of the fire. Tilting my watch toward the flames, I checked the time and groaned. It was almost six.

  “Relax, you’re good,” Reid’s deep voice rumbled from the archway connecting the living area to the kitchen. He had changed into a thermal shirt that did nothing to hide the bulging muscles in his upper body.

  No man should look that tempting, I thought, then quickly reminded myself that I wasn’t interested.

  “The Guard will be here any minute. I’m not ready.”

  “You have plenty of time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your grandmother called a while ago. The Guard isn’t coming. They have their hands full and the roads are a mess. The governor’s declared a state of emergency.”

  “I’ll have to find another way, then.” Shaking off the lingering cobwebs, I pushed off the blanket and got to my feet. I couldn’t help wondering: when was the last time I had slept so deeply? And where had the blanket come from?

  My coat and boots were in the kitchen, but Reid didn’t move out of my way, so I was forced to slip under his arm to get by. I held my breath as I did so—the man smelled too good—and did my best not rub myself against him in the process.

  He followed me over to where my coat hung just inside the door. “I’m sure they have enough coverage for a few more hours,” he said as I pulled on my now-dry boots. “The Jeep has four-wheel drive. I’ll take you as soon as it’s safe.”

  “Thanks, but I can’t wait that long.”

  “Alyx, the roads are closed.”

  “Yeah, you mentioned that.”

  “So, how are you going to get there?”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Alyx.” Reid touched my arm lightly. It was nearly my undoing.