by Skye Jones
“Where do you get these random facts from?”
“I watch a lot of National Geographic, and I read New Scientist.”
“You’re interested in animals and science.”
“Oh, yes. I think nature is endlessly fascinating, don’t you? And we keep finding out new things. There are things that shouldn’t exist, really, but they do. But some of the things they are discovering now border on being more supernatural in a sense than what we think of as science.”
Adam stopped walking. He turned to me, and his somber expression brought me up short. “Do you believe there are things on this earth which can’t be explained?”
I shivered as goose bumps broke out on my skin. It sounded like an innocent enough question, but something dark in his tone and expression made it seem like a very loaded one. “I do. But you’ll probably laugh at me if I tell you.”
“I doubt it very much.”
We began to walk again. I bent to let Humphry off his lead before I continued. “You have to promise not to believe I’m bonkers. I mean, more bonkers than the whole neurotic thing I’ve got going on.”
His lips twitched at my words and chased some of the seriousness from his face. “I solemnly swear not to believe you are bonkers.”
I never told people this story, but this time with Adam didn’t fit in with my real life. We were in a bubble, a snapshot of time shared between two people who’d never meet again. What did it matter if it spilled my guts here on this windy beach? Adam lived and worked in some cut-off eco-commune. We shared no friends or acquaintances. I took a breath and spoke. “When I was a kid, there was this woman who lived on our street. The rumors said she’d been into magic in a big way. She didn’t deny it. Called herself a white witch. I loved going round to her house to see her. She made all these potions and lotions and kept them in beautiful glass bottles and old wooden medicine cabinets. My mum hated me going round there to play. I think she worried I’d eat something dangerous, but Mrs. Johnson, the witchy lady, she always took good care of me.”
I paused as the memory resurfaced. It scared me because I understood I’d seen something very wrong. Evil. And I’d always been scared that perhaps one day, the thing I’d seen would come looking for me.
“Go on.” Adam nudged me gently with his arm.
“One night, my mum and her friend got a bit tipsy. They hardly ever drank, but on this occasion, they were a bit merry, to say the least. My dad had gone away to a business conference, and I’d been playing out in the garden way past my bedtime. It grew dark, and I got an idea to go and see what Mrs. Johnson was up to. I hoped I might catch her doing proper witchy things. You know, like riding on a broomstick or something.”
I laughed then, and it eased some of the tension building in me. “I was only seven or so, in my defense. Anyway, I crept out of the garden and down the road. We lived on this very quiet cul-de-sac, so there weren’t any cars to worry about. As I neared her house, the lights glowed from her windows through the gaps in the trees. Her place came surrounded by these huge fir trees, which stopped you being able to see much of anything, but there was a space between two of them big enough for me to squeeze through.” I glanced at him, suddenly a bit ashamed. “I’d done it before.”
He smiled. “Normal kid stuff.”
“Yes. But on this night, I witnessed something that’s creeped me out ever since.”
“Have you ever told anyone?”
“Only Roger, my husband, and he laughed at me and then told me to not talk about it again. Said people would see me as insane. And I don’t really understand why I’m telling you. I don’t want to end up in some psych ward.”
“Pam.” He stopped and faced me. When his big, warm hand took hold of mine, I felt a surge of connection. As if a thread of understanding ran between us. “I promise you. I won’t think you are crazy. I have some pretty insane stories of my own I can share.”
“Really?” I noted the words can share, not will share. But I didn’t push it.
“You’d better believe it. I won’t think you are crazy, but I am interested.”
He didn’t drop my hand, and I didn’t take it back either. I liked the feeling of his warm, rough skin against mine far too much.
“So on this night, I crept through the gap in the trees and went up to the window at the back, which looked into her large kitchen where she kept all her herbs and potions. I peeked in and saw a man with her. A really beautiful man. Honestly, at that age, I had no real understanding of such things, but I knew he was so stunning it hurt. He had long blond hair and green eyes. He looked better than any Disney prince I’d ever seen. I watched him, wondering if he was in love with Mrs. Johnson. But it seemed odd if they were because she looked so very old. And then he…”
I took a deep breath in. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go there and tell someone else what I’d seen. He’d see me as certifiable.
“Please, Pam. Trust me. Tell me what you saw.”
“I don’t do trust very well these days.”
“I understand. But I’m not asking you to marry me or anything. I’m only asking you to share something with me. Perhaps it will ease the burden some. You’ve carried it alone for so long.”
“Sometimes you have the strangest way of speaking. So old-fashioned, but then you drop modern phrases in there.”
“I suppose I do. And nice deflection, by the way.”
I sighed. “Okay. You win. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’ll be walking away as quick as you can when I tell you what happened. This man, this beautiful vision, bent down and pulled Mrs. Johnson’s hair back, and then parted his lips and revealed these long, sharp teeth. Like the ones vampires possess in scary films. The ones I sometimes got glimpses of through the slats in the banister at home, when I was supposed to be in bed. He bit her. He bit her neck, and he started to suck. I witnessed it all. And when he stopped, there were two big marks dripping with blood. He licked them and then kissed her lips and turned around. He must have seen me. I’d been too close to the glass for him not to have. I’ve spent my whole life half terrified that one day he’d come looking for me.”
“Holy fuck.”
“Told you it sounds crazy.”
I dared a glance at Adam, but he seemed miles away.
“Not another fucking one.”
His words made my blood run cold. What did he mean? Another crazy lady? Perhaps he’d met other people like me. Stupid people who imagined they saw things as a child and still let it plague them years later.
“These coincidences are too fucking much.” He shook his head and blew out a long breath. “Have you ever had premonitions of any sort?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Ever seen anything else?”
“No.”
“Do you have strange dreams? Do you dream about wolves ever?”
“Wolves? No. What is this? What’s with the twenty questions?” I suddenly wanted to go back. The feeling of safety he normally gave me evaporated in the glare of his sudden, laser-like interest.
“As an adult, I tried to explain it away. The nearest I can come up with is that they were part of some strange cult or something.”
“Or something.”
I stopped walking and pulled my hand free of his. “Okay. I don’t like this game anymore. I shared with you, and all I am getting back is cryptic mutterings and half sentences. What gives?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Oh, the insufferable dick. “So you mean to tell me that you got me to spill my dirty laundry, my mad little secret, and yet you aren’t going to tell me anything?”
“Yes. It will only place you in danger if I do.”
“I don’t want to go any farther. I’m heading back.”
“Don’t. Please. I really want to show you this place. I can’t talk to you about the other stuff. Not yet, at least. But let me share something with you.”
“No. I’m sorry. I’m… I feel scared.”
Adam flinched. He actu
ally flinched as if I’d slapped him. “Of me?”
“Somewhat. Of your response to my story, at any rate. You can’t understand. It has haunted me all my life. Either it means I am insane, or it means I witnessed something deeply sinister and this world isn’t what we think it is.”
“Okay.” He stopped once more and pulled me toward him. The wind whipped his hair, and a strand of it fell over his forehead, making him even more gorgeous. “I’ll tell you one thing. I can’t share any more, so please don’t ask me to. But you’re not crazy. What you saw is real. I doubt you’re in any danger whatsoever. If you were, well, frankly, trouble would have found you before now. But as I say, what you saw is real. And it maybe ties you to me, in a way. A very tenuous way, but it still makes me deeply uncomfortable. Recently… Let me just say there have been a whole string of coincidences.”
“Are you a paranormal investigator?” I blurted out my half-formed theory.
He gave a wry smile. “Something like that. Yeah. You could say I lead a team of people who are…involved in trying to find out the truth about the activities of some of these things you saw. And we also live off-grid. I do run and live in an eco-compound. That’s the truth, but there’s more to us.”
We resumed walking as I mulled his words over and came to a sharp corner where the rocks extended right down to the sea.
“This bit is tricky. The rocks are slippery, so I want you to hold my hand.”
Adam held out his large hand, and I placed my much smaller hand in his. He gripped me tight and gave me a quick squeeze before he was off, clambering up onto the wet rocks. I followed, scared of slipping and hurting myself. But Adam looked surefooted and confident, and he helped me over every rock. It didn’t seem like two minutes before we were rounding a corner and I gasped and came to a halt. In front of me stood the most perfect beach I’d ever seen.
The one we stayed by was pretty special, but this place blew it out of the water. A perfect horseshoe of pristine white sand made even more stunning by its frame, on both sides, of deep, granite cliffs. The waves lapping at the shore were lazy and a blinding azure. They wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Caribbean.
We scrambled down the last couple of rocks and pebbles until we hit soft sand. Once we walked under the shelter of the great cliff jutting out to meet the rocks and the sea, the wind ceased to nip at our hair and clothing. At the far end of the beach, the cliff appeared to have a large hole in it where it met the sea.
“Is that a cave?”
“Yes. They say pirates hid here centuries ago. Some say there are hidden treasures in some of these caves, but people have died in them when the tide comes in, so I don’t suggest we go searching.”
I shuddered. I hated the dark, so you wouldn’t get me in a cave anyway. I didn’t do small spaces. My claustrophobia ran amok in them.
I turned to look out to sea, loving the feel of the sun on my face as it broke from behind a cloud. Humphry cavorted up and down the beach, his long legs eating up the sand as he ran to and fro. I sensed Adam behind me and turned to look up at him.
“Thank you so much for bringing me here. It’s truly magical.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
I looked up and down the empty, deserted beach and took in a deep and satisfying breath. “I don’t believe I’ve seen such a lovely view in…a very long time.”
“Me either.” I glanced back at him to find he wasn’t looking at the beach at all, but right at me.
I swallowed as the possible meaning behind his words hit me.
“Pam.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“Oh.” I squeaked. Like a mouse. But then his lips were on mine, his finger under my chin, tilting my face for better access.
He kissed me gently at first. Not tentative, but not pushy.
I moaned, and he turned me around fully until I faced him. Then his hand was back at my chin, tipping it up until his lips found mine again. His other hand slid down my back to rest at the base of my spine and pulled me into him.
The kiss deepened. He flicked his tongue out against mine, asking permission. Asking entry. And I gave it. I opened my mouth and let him in. Adam took over then. The kiss went from gentle and almost cordial to insistent and demanding. It left me shaky and needy, yearning for more, more, more.
Something bright and beautiful burst free inside of me, and I forgot all my worries. Thought fled, and I existed on another plane for a few glorious moments. One of sensation and touch and scent.
He smelled of something warm and spicy and tasted of mint. I loved the warmth of his mouth against mine. The wet of his tongue as he teased and sipped at me.
I swear, in that moment, if he’d asked it of me, I’d have taken leave of all my senses and lay down on the soft sand and let him have his way with me.
But suddenly, the kiss ended and I came back down to earth. My God, I’d been about ten seconds from almost offering myself to this man like some sort of sacrifice.
I pulled away, shaky and still buzzing.
“Wow.” He said the word softly. Reverentially. “You taste as good as you smell.”
Maybe I wasn’t the only one so affected by our impromptu make-out session.
“You’re a great kisser,” I said. Because it was the truth.
He shook his head. “No such thing. It’s all about chemistry. One person’s great kisser is another’s idea of hell. But every now and again, you get two people who come together and it works. They create a spark.”
“And you think we have a spark?”
He shot me an incredulous look. “Don’t you?”
“I suppose so. Yes. I mean, it felt good.”
“Come on.”
“Where?”
He smiled, slow and predatory, and it stole my breath. “I’m going to walk you home…and then I’m going to ask you to invite me in.”
Oh. My. God!
Chapter Four
What was I doing? I fumbled with the key in the lock, hoping Adam didn’t note my shaking hands.
The walk home had been quieter than our stroll on the way out. Adam made the odd comment about the local area, and I tried to answer with some semblance of rationality, but my mind churned as I contemplated Adam’s words.
He wanted me to invite him in. I think he meant more than merely ask him in for a cuppa! And I hadn’t been with a man since Roger left. Indeed, Roger had been my one and only. This would be a big step for me to take.
Part of me wanted to go for it. A small part yearned to be free of the shell of fear and worry that kept me trapped and held me back. Made me scared to try so many things.
Another side of me grew more and more terrified the closer we came to the moment we’d end up together in my cozy cottage. Could I do this?
What if halfway into it I panicked? Needed him to stop? Would he stop? You heard awful stories in the press about predatory men. I sensed a bond with Adam. Sensed I could trust him, but was it simply foolish wish fulfillment?
I finally turned the key and entered the warm space of the kitchen. I tripped over the step on the way in and dropped the keys on the stone floor. Warm fingers brushed against mine as I bent down to pick them up, and I looked up into a pair of beautiful blue eyes.
Adam plucked the keys from the floor and straightened. He placed them on the side and then ran his hands up and down my arms.
“We don’t have to do anything if you’re not ready. I don’t want to pressure you at all. I want you. But your nerves, trust me, I get it.”
I laughed. “I doubt it. I’ve not been with anyone since my husband left me.”
He gave me a soft, sad smile. “I’ve not been with anyone since my wife died.”
His words took all my own worries and dispersed them like confetti on the breeze. His wife died. Something he’d told me in the pub, and I’d forgotten due to my inebriated state.
“I’m so sorry.”
On his latest downstroke of my arm, he he
ld my wrists gently. “You already said so, and it was a long time ago now. I’ve come to peace with it.”
A long time. So…he’d not been with anyone for a long time.
“We can simply go sit in the den and watch a film if you like?” Adam watched me, his face relaxed and open.
“Or…” I let the alternative hang there. A temptation.
“Or we go upstairs and fool around. Who knows, perhaps we’ll find it a bit embarrassing and awkward. Or…we might blow one another’s minds.”
I doubted that. I’d never found sex mind-blowing. Fun at times, maybe. Nice on occasion, certainly. A way to feel close to Roger. But not mind-blowing. If not for Diane’s many testimonies of the earth-shattering times she experienced with her many conquests, I’d have believed everyone felt the same way.
Why not go for it? I’d never see Adam again once we left this place. It felt as if some sort of magic lay over us, coating us in a strange fog and sealing us into a womb-like existence where our tiny cottages, the beach, and the sea were all that existed. Once I left this place and headed back to reality, this man would become nothing more than a distant memory.
I sighed and shook my head. Adam squeezed my hand and, using his other, tilted my chin up to face him.
“It’s okay, Pam. I meant what I said. Why don’t we put the kettle on and go see what films there are in the old TV cabinet?”
What? I realized he’d misunderstood my head shake and my sighing. Oh, great! How did I explain now that I actually did want to go upstairs and fool around? I wasn’t used to this. Roger used to give me a kiss and start to fondle one of my boobs when he wanted sex. We didn’t have to discuss it or talk about it. I found doing so a bit excruciating. Screwing up my courage, I painted what I hoped looked like a sexy smile upon my face.
“I think I prefer the other option. I’ve seen the DVDs, and they are bad. So, do you want to fool around?” I waggled my eyebrows at him in a desperate attempt at humor.
He smiled and pulled me into him, brushing a tender kiss across my mouth.
