Falling Hard

by Shelly Bell

  “I’m kidding. I think I started last semester. I had a killer course. Introduction to the Old Testament - Hebrew. The stress of it finally pushed me nearly to the brink. Thus, the cigarettes. It’s a really bad habit, though.” She waved her hand with the cigarette and her scent hit him again. The cool winds carried her magnificent smell on its back and straight to him. The things coming to mind weren’t even rational.

  A bite. A caress. Warm, sensual hands touching him everywhere.

  With each whiff, Mitch was in heaven, if it even existed. It was often something his kind pondered. “It is.”

  A shrill, agitated voice came from behind him inside the building. Zee was calling for him in her I’m-going-to-kill-you voice. He was still looking at Aurora, waiting for her to say something. She took a long puff from her smoke and raked her eyes over him.

  “I’d better get back.”

  “I know,” she said.

  “I’ll see you around.” Mitch turned on the narrow stoop and opened the back door to head back into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, see ya,” Aurora called behind him.

  Mitch was already facing the other way and trying to decide whether or not he should continue walking with his dick in his hand. He’d never been incinerated before, and an intoxicating girl had done it with one fleeting night, a few lame jokes, and legs that made him imagine the back of her thighs and ass poised in the air as he pounded his cock into her.

  “What did I tell you?” Zee’s voice took on a tonal quality that always meant she was pissed.

  Mitch stepped into the heat of the kitchen, unsure of whether the source was the grill and fryers or Zee. “Keep your voice down, lady. Listen, I went out back, just like you asked. She was out there smoking when I got there.”

  “I get it, Mitch. She’s hot or whatever, but you have got to listen to me. This is bad news for you. Between her father and your inability to control yourself, you are asking for it. Need I remind you, it is never good? And what would happen if you get arrested? Arrested during a full moon? Do I have to remind you that you still can’t control yourself?”

  “No, Zee. You don’t. But that didn’t stop you, did it? I’m out. I didn’t lay on the charm, if that’s what you’re worried about. I barely spoke.”

  “I should have gone to that party. I should have told you. Does she know about you and

  your . . . condition?” Her hands flailed and rattled two pots hanging on hooks from the ceiling in the middle of the kitchen.

  “Yes, but that’s about it. Now go back out there, put on your waitress smile, and serve the customers. Billy will kill us if the orders get backed up. Anyway, Blake just walked in. I know how much you love waiting on him.”

  “We’re not done. And can’t his rich ass find somewhere else to eat?”

  “He’s not that bad. Go. Wait tables. I’ll cook. It’ll be great.”

  “Jerk,” she snorted, before storming off to be the best fucking manager-slash-waitress Mitch had ever seen.

  Zee was almost funny when she was angry. She was eleven months older, had only known him for two years, and somehow had become his mother. She was working on a potion to help him control himself. The beast in him was relentless during the full moons. The animal would wake him in the early morning hours, forcing him out of his house to tear into the dark woods.

  He really did owe her. Listening to her was something he’d never had a problem with before. Mitch just didn’t want her to find out that her opinion was valued and even wanted. He would have never gotten any peace.

  Chapter 6

  Aurora stayed outside for a few more minutes. She could hear Mitch and Hazel arguing. About her. There was no way she intended to be with Mitch again. Even if he invaded her thoughts during class. Even if for seven whole days, she’d thought of him naked at least twice a day. Even if she’d masturbated and came, screaming his name into the night. She had been so glad her roommate was out late that night.

  Despite all that, she hadn’t tracked him down in the student directory. The fact she’d come out at all while he was on his break was purely based on the foreboding she’d sensed moments before.

  The negative energy stirred in the trees. The husk of demon lingered on the wisps of air surrounding the restaurant. She’d felt a mild stirring earlier that day, but when she went out to eat, the eerie sensation ended up in the very spot she hadn’t wanted it to.

  Near Mitch.

  Her father was around. She sniffed the air and brimstone singed her nostrils. He was close. Just over the bridge.

  He hadn’t liked her heading off into the world, and as much as she wanted to believe he would leave her alone, he’d just as soon kill her than to let her stray away from the darkness. Her mortality had always sickened him.

  “Go away. I’m not leaving here,” she shouted into the night air.

  “Alive or dead, you’ll be back.” The haunting whisper came from the trees. In the distance, one of the trees on the edge of the forest turned white with frost. The crackling could be heard across the empty field.

  Aurora dropped her cigarette onto the ground and snuffed it out with the toe of her hiking boots.

  Once more, his voice rose from the dark of night. “He’s imprinted on you. Tsk, tsk. What will you do now?” he whispered from the trees. In the distance, his raspy laughter shook her to the core.

  Turning around, she nearly tripped over her feet getting back to the front of the restaurant and into the golden lights of the dining area. The heavy, wooden door swung closed behind her with a loud thud. The bells hanging on it sounded out, but not before she was back at her table.

  “Enjoy your smoke?” Hazel was at her table, dropping off another refill.

  “Yeah,” she murmured.

  “Listen, I don’t mean to get in your business, Aurora . . . okay, yeah, I guess I do. You can’t do whatever you and Mitch are doing. He’s not stable enough and you have enough problems. It’s not that I don’t believe in love—believe me, I do. I just don’t want either of you to get caught up and hurt. What if the Seekers found you both? His father died. They have killed some of your friends. The more of us they collect, the more dangerous it is. Let alone a couple. The bounty goes up,” she said in a harsh, low voice.

  “I hear you. But you didn’t even ask why I went out there . . . my father was here,” she said.

  Hazel slid into the booth across from Aurora, the red leather of the seat squeaking as she did. “He was? He came across the bridge?”

  “No, he didn’t. But he was there. He did a Frozen number on a tree and coated the goddamn thing with ice. And he spoke to me.”

  “What did he say?” Hazel asked, her eyes wide with fear.

  “He said I’m leaving here, dead or alive,” Aurora responded.

  “Well, shit. That’s scary as hell. At least he wasn’t able to get to you.”

  “I have something else to tell you. He says I’m imprinted.”

  “What?” Hazel almost yelled the question. “Is it true?”

  “I felt it too . . . or something. I mean, I got the headache and I could feel . . . more of him. My mother was in denial about what I was, and I’ve never been around other kids . . . like me.”

  “Did you dream of him?” Hazel stared at her, the frustration evident in her clenched teeth.

  “I did.”

  “Can you smell him?”

  “Um . . .”

  “Think. Can you smell him right now? If you think of him, can you see what he’s doing?”

  “I can do that anyway.”

  “You sense things. Can you see him?”

  “No . . . I can’t. But there’s an order up. He just put it in the window.”

  “I think you guys are in really big trouble.”

  “Do you think my father knows who Mitch is, or if he just knows I’m imprinted?” Aurora asked, a lump forming in her throat.

  “He could. We’d better keep our eyes open,” Hazel said.

  “Should I tell Mitch?�
� Aurora wondered if it could possibly help if he knew. But something about telling him about a demon who wanted him to die didn’t seem kosher.

  “No. Absolutely not. It can’t help the situation. Mitch is a hothead. He’ll try to help, and with a werewolf, a demon, and a witch in town dueling it out, someone is bound to notice. Let’s just try to figure out how to get rid of your father. He can’t get across the bridge, so let’s not make things worse.”

  “I don’t know, Hazel. Mitch could be a target,” she pleaded. Lying, even with all of her horrible traits, was something Aurora hated doing.

  “I know. No good is going to come of it, I’m afraid. But we’ll think of something. Now eat your damn fries, drink your pop, and concentrate on how to rid yourself of your father,” Hazel said as she rose from the table, grabbed her tray, and marched off to help a table full of guys from the basketball team. They were being jerks, but Hazel knew how to handle them.

  There was nothing else to do for Mitch. Hazel was right. If something happened to him as a result of her father, Aurora would never forgive herself. That night at the party, she’d known she wasn’t supposed to sleep with him. Her senses were on high alert, but something about him made it impossible for her to resist him. He was sexy. He smelled like a warrior and those dark, lush locks hanging all over his head made her weak. In her stomach, her heart, and her head, he was present from the moment he stepped in front of her that night. And there he remained.

  After gobbling down her food, Aurora pulled a crumpled ten dollar bill from her black purse and tossed it onto the table. The best thing about Billy’s was its cheap food.

  Aurora looked over at the kitchen. Mitch wasn’t looking at her. He was busy preparing orders and tossing completed meals on their plates into the window for pick up. Longing overtook her in an instant. The ripples in his muscular arms made her mouth go dry. She imagined she was one of his utensils and he was using her any way he wanted.

  Forcing herself, she stood and walked out the door, concentrating on putting her feet one in front of the other and getting the hell away from Mitch Rowland. He was too much, and too much was more than she could bear.

  Chapter 7

  The hairs of her sex were trimmed to a thin, sexy rectangle, covering the sexy mound of flesh and leading to a place Mitch couldn’t see for her closed thighs. Her scent rose into the air—remarkably close to hot cinnamon. He coaxed her legs apart, revealing the thatch of creamy skin and nub slick from arousal. With a slow kiss, he used the pads of his thumbs to rub up her crease.

  The moans urged him on—his name whispered into the dark room tugged at him in his groin the moment the sound reached his ears.

  She wanted him. He was inches away from a treasure trove of magnificence in a tight, hot little box.

  Her frame was thin. Not like Aurora’s. Her skin was pale; a sharp contrast to Aurora’s deep brown.

  Was it cool to have sex with one girl while dreaming of another? Yes, screamed his cock. No, warned his brain. Then it happened. His cock betrayed him, falling limp.

  With an audible sigh, he moved away. “I’m sorry, Lauren.”

  “Wha . . . what the fuck, Mitch?” She raised her torso from the bed she’d been writhing on. Her brows tangled into a confused glare, lit by the streetlight streaming into the small dorm room.

  “I’m not into it tonight. I’m sorry.” Sitting up, Mitch found his shirt and pulled it over his head before even making it all the way off the bed.

  “Is this some stupid-ass joke?”

  Lauren’s voice quaked with frustration. The lamp she clicked on beside her bed flooded the room with a dim glow, but Mitch already had his shoes on at the foot of the bed.

  “It’s not you, baby. It’s me.”

  “That’s a line. And it’s a load of bullshit that’s not even original. My friends told me not to mess around with you because you’re so wishy-washy.”

  “Maybe your friends were right. Listen, I’ll take you to dinner when I’m off work again.”

  “When would that be, Mitch? Neverteenth of I-don’t-give-a-fuck-uary? Don’t bother. I’m good.”

  Mitch allowed the door to click behind him without pulling it into its frame on his way out. Standing in the hallway, he gave his little soldier a light slap. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  With another loud, heaving sigh, Mitch headed down the hallway of the West Housen dormitory, finding his way out despite hooded eyes. He was cautious with each step since he was still distracted and confused by what had just happened.

  Even a day prior, he would have been perfectly fine with sleeping with two girls within hours of one another, least of all simply thinking of another. There was nothing to attribute to this drastic change. His penis had just not worked for Lauren. It wasn’t his first time with her and she was still someone he considered as hot as a closed car on a July afternoon. Perhaps his dick was broken. Like broken broken. “Fuck,” Mitch yelped, once outside in the crisp air.

  Two girls walking into the dorm regarded him with apprehension on the dark night. He gingerly stepped aside, allowing them to pass and attempted a smile, despite his actions erring on the side of psycho. They smiled back, one of them letting out a little giggle. Whether it was his shiny black hair, deep blue eyes, full bright smile, or sleek, muscular build, Mitch knew there were few women who could resist his animal magnetism. He had something for all of them. It wasn’t arrogance, just a sense of knowing. Knowing exactly what it took to get a girl out of her underwear.

  Laying on the charm for the pretty girls didn’t take his mind off his troubles, though. He could play coy if he wanted, but in his heated moments with Lauren, his lust was for another. It was very clear.

  Mitch had seen her the day before for four minutes and talked to her for less than two. Her face was the one he’d seen while disrobing and stroking Lauren’s cool, porcelain skin. He wanted the dark, even tone of Aurora. Beneath the lights in the restaurant, her skin had shone with a thousand points of light, her radiance blinding him, even as he’d stood observing her with lust and longing from his spot in the kitchen.

  The winding paths of the campus leading from one dorm to another blended into a collage of shapes and gray, shadowy darkness. His mind wandered away to their brief conversation and the million things he should have said to her, instead of the ten he’d managed to get out. His body responded to her with every possible reaction, except intelligence.

  The brisk air was the only thing keeping Mitch grounded in reality. The condo was within reach. Having his car would have made his life easier, but the midnight walks across campus after a conquest helped to clear his mind. Normally. Like when his cock worked and nothing else in the world mattered. Not his propensity to gut another human if he shifted in anger, or having his clandestine life found out by his friends. There was too much that could possibly go wrong for him to muddle over a girl. Even if just thinking of her made him weak.

  The lights of the condo were shining bright in the darkened sky. Both Blake and Hutch’s bedrooms at the front of the condo were illuminated upstairs. While Hutch was probably studying, Blake was definitely macking on some chick or texting pics of his pecs.

  His key slid into the lock with barely a sound. Mitch opened the door and swiftly went for the couch instead of upstairs to his room, and grabbed his backpack from the floor in front of the fireplace. The macrophysics textbook was huge and detailed. There was little chance to study for midterms with this woman on his mind and occupying the vast majority of his gray matter. Still, he had to try.

  The buzzing of his cell phone was welcomed. Even though his roommates surrounded him, he didn’t want to talk to them. They’d just razz him about it, the way he had to them in recent weeks, as most of them seemed preoccupied with one woman or another.

  “Hello, Zee. I think I’m becoming psychic. I knew it was you before I picked up the phone.”

  “It’s called Caller ID, sweetie. Aurora is infatuated with you. You have to fix it,” she said
.

  “From the sound of your voice, I’m sure you’re convinced it’s my fault. I promise you it—”

  “Yeah, I know. Just stay away from her, Mitch. There’s trouble if you don’t. I don’t think I can get you two out of this type of shit.”

  “Humph,” he half laughed, half grumbled. “Well, I’ll have you know I just left a spirited young woman only seconds ago.”

  “Stop talking like you’re British. As interesting as this all is, I didn’t call to tell you about Aurora, or to hear about your exploits. I think I found it.”

  “The spell?” Mitch sat upright and started to pay attention, pushing his text to the side. There had been so many nasty potions he’d drank in the past few months, Zee had sworn she wouldn’t make him take anymore unless she was sure.

  “The potion, and yes. It’s a little old, and I’ve never made it before, but I think it may be the one. I need another ingredient and then we can try it out.”

  “I hope it’s not like the last one. I had hair on my neck for two weeks.”

  “It’s called a beard, Mitch.”

  “Only if it’s on the front of your neck. On the back, it’s a sure-fire sex repellant.”

  “One mistake. One. And I’ll never live it down. We’ll try this weekend. There has to be something to prevent the change.”

  “So, ah . . . what’d she say about me?” Mitch scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck and sat up straight. As vulnerable as it sounded, the reality surrounding his question was even worse. His palms began to sweat the moment he asked.

  “She asked if you were as nice as you seemed. And if you were struggling with some type of neurological disorder.” Zee’s laughter brought heat to his face.

  “Zee, that’s not funny in the least.”

  “Sure it is. Seriously, she wanted to know how I knew you, for how long, and whether you have a girlfriend. To which, I stressed an emphatic no. Right before explaining that men and women could be friends and still manage to keep their clothes on. I think she believed me. Thankfully. Anyway, I told her you didn’t like monogamy. I think she got the picture.”