by Lexy Timms
“Don’t listen to him.” Another customer stands on my other side, smelling just as bad as the first and looking no better. “Billy ain’t got any money. But I do.” He takes out his black leather wallet, slapping it on the counter. “How much do you need?”
“None,” I tell him, directing my gaze at the man behind the bar. “If you don’t have a phone, then I’m leaving to find one. Thank you.”
I turn away from the counter but a hand grabs my arm.
“Where are you going, missy?” A sickening voice hisses in my ear. “Back out in the cold? You’ll freeze out there. But I can keep you warm.”
My eyes dart to the ceiling.
Really? First, I nearly die in a plane crash. Then I get locked up by a maniac who I’m now convinced must have something to do with that ‘delusion’ I had about having certain abilities. I’ve just spent the past two days trudging through snow. And now, some drunkards who I’m guessing have seen more bears than women, are hitting on me?
I let out a deep breath. “You know what, boys? I’ve had a really rough day so I’d appreciate it if you...”
“Don’t worry.” The other man takes my other arm as he whispers in my ear. “We’ll make you forget all about it.”
Shit. Now, what?
I’d call for help but the last time I did, I ended up in even more trouble. I’m not doing that again.
I glance at the man on my right who’s winking at me and the man on my left who’s practically drooling.
Well there’s always the old standby. I could try kneeing them in the groin.
I’m still considering it when I hear a sound booming through the tavern.
“Let her go.”
I turn my head, my eyes resting on a man towering more than six feet tall, his shoulders so broad they look like they can carry a moose.
Please don’t tell me he wants a piece of me, too.
“Oh, come on, Theo,” the man on my left cajoles. “We’re just trying to have a little fun here. You know there aren’t that many wo...”
“I said let her go.”
The man looks like he just left the wrestling ring. He walks toward the bar like he owns it.
“Alright. Alright.” Both men drop my arms. “She’s all yours.”
I lift an eyebrow. Seriously?
The behemoth of a man gestures to the door and I walk toward it, conscious of his protection, taking deep breaths and trying to keep my legs from shaking. After all, I might have to bolt as soon as I’m outside. Hopefully, this guy is one of those big but not fast types.
After pushing the door open, I prepare to make a mad dash through the snow. Not my best plan, but it’s what I’ve got right now.
“Wait. You were asking for a phone, weren’t you?”
I stop in my tracks, turning around. “Yes. Why?”
“I have one.”
“You do?” My fear turns to relief.
He nods.
“And you’ll let me use it?” I ask hopefully.
He gives another nod.
I’m not sure I should trust him, but I don’t have a lot of options right now. So I smile for what feels like the first time in ages. If it gets me a phone, I can play along. “What was your name again?”
“Theo.” He offers me his hand, which looks like it can fit two of mine.
I take it, shaking it as best as I can. “I’m Clarissa. Thanks for helping me.”
Chapter Four
~ Theo
“THERE SHE IS.” I GESTURE towards the small, black fishing boat sitting on the wharf alongside a tiny village. “My boat, Ursa.” I speak each word with satisfaction and pride. She is a good boat.
Clarissa stares at it with wide eyes, hands on her hips as she stands on the dock. The sandy wisps of hair that have escaped from her hat billow in the breeze. Her cheeks are pale, and she frowns a little, forehead crinkling as she looks.
“Well, that’s not what I expected. I thought it would be, you know, bigger. Not that I’m saying it’s small. It’s just...”
“It will do.” I turn my head back to the boat, somewhat nonplussed. This is not the reaction I’d expected. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
“Just like me then.” She rubs her gloved hands together, breathing an icy mist over them. “Well, I like her already.”
I glance at her, but she seems serious. I nod, accepting the praise.
She’s tough, alright. Anyone else would be shaken after being cornered by drunken men, but she looks just fine. Cold maybe, but fine.
“Follow me.” I lead the way down to the boat, helping her to navigate the icier spots along the path.
“You don’t mean Ursula, do you?” she asks, her boots thudding on the wooden planks of the dock. “You know, like the sea witch?”
“Never heard of her.” I keep walking, my own footsteps thunderous crashes compared to hers. “It’s Ursa, like the constellation.”
“Oh, like the Latin word for bear, the one where the word ‘ursine’ and the bear genus, Ursus, are derived from.”
“Exactly.” I throw her a quizzical look over my shoulder. “You know your bears.”
She smiles proudly. “I know my animals.”
I lift an eyebrow. Well, that’s a first. In my experience women aren’t much interested in much besides themselves. Animals never figured into the equation any unless you were talking about dogs the size of your fist or worse, some overfed housecat. Anything beyond that was more likely to earn you a grimace in disgust at animals outside of house pets, or anyone who reminds them of one.
Then again, I haven’t met a lot of women, just those who conducted their ‘business’ in taverns. I imagine they’re not a well-educated lot.
Clarissa, on the other hand, has a gleam of intelligence in her eyes, a ring of conviction in her voice and a good soul about her. She’s the kind of woman you wouldn’t expect to see in a tavern, in fact, which was why I’d noticed her at once.
I’m glad I got her out of that wretched place. Now, those men there, they’re the real animals.
“Here we go.”
I jump on the boat, which rocks beneath my weight, the water around it splashing. I wait for it to become steady then offer my arm to Clarissa.
“Come on.”
Apprehension flickers in her hazel eyes but she reaches her arm out to me just the same.
As soon as her hand lands on top of mine, I pull her on the boat. She jumps but I must have pulled her too hard because she crashes into me, her face getting buried in my chest as the boat rocks precariously, her soft curves filling crevices of hard muscle.
Heat floods my cheeks but I let the freezing air cool them as I lay my hands on Clarissa’s slender shoulders, pushing her gently away.
“Are you alright?”
She nods but doesn’t meet my gaze, instead she’s looking down at the deck. “Are you sure this boat will hold?”
“Yes. I’ve had it for years and it’s been able to carry a decent load of fish.”
She frowns as she sits down. “Well, I probably weigh more than a few fish.”
I laugh and grab her hand. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Slowly, the corners of her lips turn up. “I guess you are reliable. Heck, you’ve already saved my life once. Did I thank you? I can’t remember if I did.”
Oddly enough neither can I.
“Well, thanks for saving me back there. And thanks for offering to let me use your phone.”
I shake my head. “I’m just sorry I can’t let you use it sooner.”
I do have a phone but it’s in my house in Anchorage which is a couple hundred miles away. Not that there isn’t a CB somewhere in the village. I haven’t told her that. I’m not sure why. Maybe I want her to myself for a little while.
“No worries. At least, you’re getting me to the city.”
“We should be there by morning,” I tell her.
I don’t tell her that she’s fortunate. This harbor should have been ic
ed in by now. With as heavy as the snow’s been, winter came on kind of sudden. Last week you could still see bare earth. In another week, nothing would have been moving either in or out of here. I take the boat off its moor then start the engine, its rumble piercing the silence. After a few more seconds, it leaves the wharf, heading out to open sea.
“You’re lucky the storm has passed or we wouldn’t be able to leave,” I add, glancing at her from the helm.
Clarissa doesn’t answer, she’s busy taking off her shoes and rubbing her feet in the relative warmth of the cabin.
I frown, but her feet seem ok. Not frostbitten. Not what I would expect if her story was true. “Wait. Did you walk all the way here from where your plane crashed? Through the storm?”
She lifts her head. “I...took shelter when the storm was as its worst. I was lucky enough to find an abandoned cabin.”
An abandoned cabin north of here? In all my wanderings, I’ve never come across one. Then again, it’s possible.
“Then you walked here?”
She puts her boots back on. “Unbelievable, I know. I guess when you’re desperate to survive, you can do things you never thought possible.”
I nod. “That’s true.” Though not likely. Something’s off. Something I need to figure out.
“I’m just lucky I didn’t run into some bears.”
My eyebrows go up. “You’re scared of bears?”
“I was just worried they might consider me a threat and I didn’t think I had the strength to defend myself. Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to have to hurt them. I’m the one who wandered into their territory, after all.”
I choke back a laugh, amused. “Well, congratulations on making it safely,” I say when I have myself under control again.
Clarissa smiles. “Like I said, I’m lucky. Either that or maybe the bears took pity on me and deliberately left me alone.”
I doubt that. No, I know that’s a lie. Because I know for a fact there are no bears out there. Not where she was. Not that I can tell her that.
“Or maybe the bears didn’t consider you a threat,” I say with a shrug, navigating the boat around some rocks that mark the end of the channel.
She shrugs. “Well, they’re right. It’s not like I have superpowers or anything.”
Superpowers?
Just then, a harsh breeze blows, carrying with it a woman’s whispers. Normally, I would answer her. But then normally, I’m alone. Tonight, I’m not.
“Sorry, love. Not tonight.” I speak in the barest of whispers.
“Are you talking to someone?” Clarissa asks, smoky eyes narrowing on me in a way that doesn’t bode well.
She heard me?
“What? No.” I shake my head, hands on the helm. “I talk to myself sometimes. I’m not used to having company. It’s a bad habit I’ve gotten myself into go. But talking to you is good! I should do that more. Talk to you, I mean. Not myself!”
“Yeah.” She chuckles and throws her head back, looking up at the stars through the window next to her. She’s curled up on the bench behind me. I find myself wishing the heater worked better. It’s never been a huge priority, and now for the first time I feel just how chilly it is in the pilot house. I should send her below to my cabin where it’s warmer, but I hate to give up her company just yet.
“It’s good to talk to someone who can’t read your mind for a change,” she says after a minute.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” She yawns.
I walk over to her. “You must be tired. You should rest.” I pull a blanket out of a locker and spread it over her legs. “There’s a cabin down below with an actual bunk if you’d prefer.”
She shudders a little. “I don’t like closed spaces much. This is fine.” She tilts her head back to look again at the stars. “At least, I get a great view.”
I follow her gaze. She’s right. Now that the storm is gone, the sky is clear and countless stars are peeking out from the holes of the night tapestry. If only she had come sooner, she would have been able to see the sky as a palette with swirls of red, green and blue. Still, the sky looks dazzling enough. I, for one, never tire of staring at it.
“Ah-choo!”
I turn my head towards Clarissa, frowning when I see her curled up with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, her shoulders shaking.
It’s a wonder she survived the cold during her trip here, even with the storm and all, but it’s always been colder out here at sea with nothing to shield you from the freezing air.
“You’re cold.”
“I’m fine,” she says through chattering teeth, pulling the hood of her jacket over her head. “Tell me a story. Something about yourself. Anything.”
I realize she’s trying to distract herself from the cold. I shake my head and go down below, returning with the heavier blanket from my own bunk. I add this to the other, cursing the damned heater and vowing to actually get it fixed the next time I’m docked.
I go back to the helm when she’s settled, checking that we haven’t drifted too far off course. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Where’s your family?” she asks.
“I don’t live with them.”
“Okay. Well, that’s understandable. What about a girlfriend then? Anyone special waiting for you in Anchorage?”
My shoulders tense. I take a deep breath and wonder how to answer. “No. No girlfriend. No one special.”
“Well, you sure give direct answers.” She sighs. “Short answers. What about...?”
She stops, coughing.
“Clarissa?” My eyes narrow in concern. She sounds sick.
“I’m fine,” she repeats, turning on her other side.
She’s not. She’s still a human, after all, regardless of how tough she looks and how much she’s endured. She needs something more to keep her warm. But she doesn’t want to go below.
I look around, seeing only crates and nets and fishing equipment out on deck. Odds and ends cluttering up the small pilot house. One useless heater which is cranking out barely enough to keep the windows from frosting over on the inside. Unfortunately, I have nothing further to offer her to keep her warm.
Well, except for one thing.
I check the tiller and make sure the course is laid in securely. We should be good for a while so long as the seas stay calm.
I sit down beside her, pulling her into my arms.
“Theo?”
“Shh.” I wrap my arms tightly around her shaking body. “You’re cold. Let me help you.”
Clarissa falls silent.
My nose ends up buried in her hair and I close my eyes, savoring the sweet scent of her.
Strange. I’ve been picking up a scent off her that I didn’t really find pleasant but this scent warms me to my toes and makes me smile.
After a few seconds, she relaxes into my arms, her teeth growing still and the shivers ceasing. I hear her heartbeat becoming more even, her breathing shallower.
I gaze down at her, finding her eyes closed, her lips pursed.
Good. She’s asleep.
Suddenly, she turns, letting out a soft moan as she snuggles against me, her breasts pinned against my chest and one of her legs slipping between mine.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
I, on the other hand, will have no trouble staying awake.
I let out a sigh.
It’s going to be a long night.
Chapter Five
~ Clarissa
I PUSH THE DOOR OPEN, walking out of the headquarters of the Anchorage PD with a sigh of relief.
“Is everything okay?” Theo asks, getting off the bench.
I turn to him, frustrated and unhappy. “I was able to call one of my supervisors and tell her what happened. She was shocked to hear about it but she’s glad I’m okay and told me to stay put, because someone will come for me.”
“That’s good. I guess you don’t have to use my phone now.”
“No.” I sh
ake my head. “But I might still need your help.”
“How?”
I run my fingers across the collar of my jacket. It feels tight, like I can’t breathe. “I need a place to stay. Without any ID getting anything from the bank is next to impossible though they’re ‘working through the problem’ and should have available funds to me tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m ‘sorry outta luck.’ I tried calling a friend, asking if he’d wire me some money so I can stay at a hotel but he’s not answering.” I throw up my hands, absolutely beyond frustrated. “They pointed me at a shelter, but I’d seriously rather not go there. I was wondering if maybe you can lend me something. Enough for tonight.” I take a deep breath. “I know it’s too much to ask. You’ve already done so much for me and I know money matters can be tricky, but I promise I’ll pay you before I leave town.”
“Why don’t you stay at my place?” Theo suggests, cutting me off. “I’ve got an apartment.”
Of course. He did say he lives in Anchorage. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
“I don’t know.” I shrug as I slip my hands into my pockets. “Like I said, you’ve already done so much...”
“So it shouldn’t be a problem if I do just a bit more,” Theo finishes my sentence for me. “And really, this is nothing. And I kind of owe you. I know you didn’t sleep well last night. Give me a chance to redeem myself. Accommodations fit for a queen! Or at least for her minions.”
I smile. But he has a point.
Still, living with someone requires a certain degree of trust and after what happened with Sebastian, I can’t help but feel a slight apprehension about the notion of staying under the same roof with a man, especially one I don’t know.
He rubs the back of his neck, maybe picking up my unease. “My apartment isn’t that big or that fancy but it’s cozy. And it’s home. Though of course, if you prefer something better, I’ll see what I can do to help...”
“That’s fine,” I cut him off this time, smiling. It would be foolish to ask him to spend his money on a hotel for me when he’s got a perfectly good place for me to sleep. And it’s only for one night. “I’ll be happy to stay at your place if you’ll let me.”
