And dreams were for fools.
She checked the day's receipts and sighed. Books were fast becoming outdated and profits were next to nil. Maybe scrapbooking supplies would suit the neighborhood better.
She loved closing the shop alone, her senses alive and tuned to the dangers in the night. The titillation of fear brought its own rewards. The long walk through the empty streets was the only time she was free to be herself, to be Lorena; just a woman alone in the dark.
Pocketing the shop key, she looked both ways for any sign of danger. Nothing stirred along the rain-washed street. Good. The street lamp overhead flickered, increasing her edgy excitement and anticipation.
The night dark enveloped her as she strolled past other closed shops and storefront services. Music blared from an apartment overhead, cracking the softness of the night air with
discordant screams and a thumping beat. She blinked and the music died. People shouldn't disturb their neighbors this late.
She moved on, not caring about the chill. Caring only that she was here for another night: alive, with the bloom of youth still bathing her face with luminous light.
Half a block down, a cab cruised by. The driver slowed but she waved him on. The whoosh of tires in the puddles sounded soft. Romantic. The city lived a different way at night. The dark was a comfort, the gentle sounds a balm. Still, she wished she could enjoy daylight the way everyone else did. The way she used to.
Lost in her faded memories of daytime delights, Lorena nearly missed the first footfall; half a block behind her. Another. She stopped and held her breath to hear. Jaysen knocked on the shop door. A soft curse came on the still air as he realized she'd left. A thrill raced along her nerve endings as he moved faster, trying to catch up. The game was on.
His footsteps became faster, heavier and she picked up her pace so he wouldn't catch her in the overhead lighting. She preferred the dark. If he looked too closely, saw too much– the thought chilled her. No! She would lead him to the dark where she controlled everything he saw, everything he felt. Passion and release often brought a loss of control over her features.
Caution must rule over need even in the dark.
The alley entrance beckoned. She could make it before he saw her and then find a place to hide. She quickened her pace, anxious. If he passed the alley entrance before doubling back, she'd have more time to prepare and anticipate. Arousal spiked as fear coursed through her veins, chilly and exciting.
She caught sight of herself in the dirt streaked, watery window of the door that led to the upstairs apartment over Harrison's Meats. She saw her hair disheveled from the dash along the storefronts, an unholy gleam in her eye and her face showed an excited aura. She frowned because an unguarded moment could be her undoing. If Jaysen saw who she really was, what Nikko had turned her into, he'd be the one running away.
Was that wistfulness that found purchase in her stone heart? No. She'd long ago given up dreams of anything more than this. And this was sex, pure and simple. Well, maybe not pure, but surely simple.
If Jaysen caught her in the light, excited and aroused he'd see way more than she wanted him to. She hunched her shoulders and hurried, feet barely rustling, toward the alley entrance.
He needed to believe he was the pursuer in this game of sexual hide and seek. She didn't often engage this way, but the chase excited them both. Although he would deny it, the pursuit made him hotter, faster... harder.
The Stone Heart
by
Bonnie Edwards
~
A short story in
IT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT
An Anthology
~
www.bonnieedwards.com
Are you a paranormal series fan?
Check out my website for the Midnight Confessions series: ghost stories set in a haunted brothel. Excerpts available at: www.bonnieedwards.com
Meet Bonnie Edwards
Bonnie Edwards came to writing romance the long, hard way: by trial and error, through years of rejection, always determined to succeed. With this first book, (originally titled: This Heart of Mine, written as Bonnie Adams) she finally won the battle.
She lives with her husband and various pets in the majestic Pacific Northwest. When she's not writing, she's hiking with her husband and their Standard Poodle.
Bonnie loves to hear from readers at [email protected]
www.bonnieedwards.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
A Note from Bonnie Edwards
Excerpt from THE STONE HEART by Bonnie Edwards
Meet Bonnie Edwards
Sweet Ride! Page 15
