Ensnared by the Stone Freak (Twisted Carnival #2)

Chapter 5

Halvard

I stared into Cammy’s unprotected, unshielded eyes for several moments, savoring her soft, pliant body beneath me , even as our gazes remained locked . She did not turn to stone — she was immune. Those facts still absolutely blew my mind, and I could vividly recall the terror I’d felt when she’d yanked my glasses from my face earlier. None of this should be possible, yet there she lay on my bed, pinned beneath me , h er expression soft and rosy, filled with wonder. The scent of her arousal hung thick in the air, and my cock was an aching bar pressing against her soft thighs.

When the scratching at the door came again, I groaned, not ready to end this moment. The noise made Cammy’s eye lids lower, and the first stirrings of unease cross ed her face. She was worried about who it might be, scar ed it was the man who had chased her across the carnival grounds. I rose, my body protesting as the cold air replaced the warmth of my soft, vulnerable girl. Turning off the kettle on my way to the door, I felt the first stirr ings of a smile on my lip s. She was immune to my gaze — what a miracle. S till , I picked up my en chant ed glasses and slipped them on to my face before I reached the door.

“I’m coming, Hogzy,” I said when the scratching came again, a little more roughly this time, so that the Airstream rocked on its footing. I cast Cammy a glance over my shoulder as I opened the door and saw that she had risen and begun to fastidiously straighten her clothing. She looked delectable , with her coat askew and her blouse half undone. I couldn’t even recall doing that, but I was definitely responsible for her open pants and wet panties , w hich I could smell, much to my delight, even from across my small home.

Opening the door, I was greeted by a blast of cool air and a loud snort from my best buddy. Hogzy raised his head, his snout pulled into a grin, his black eyes glittering, and then he barreled inside. The step gave him only a small pause, as did the tight squeeze through the door. Then he was inside, and I leaned out to lock eyes with our chef, Eugene , who was standing in the shadows next to his own home. When he gave me a nod and a wink, I knew the job had be en done. “Mission accomplished?” I asked Hogzy anyway and was greeted with another loud snort.

“Groink,” he said and butted his head against my thigh. I had to brace myself or risk getting knocked over, especially when his second nudge was even firmer. I knew what he wanted, but my eyes caught on something dangling from one of his tusks. I ducked down and caught his snout in my hand so I could free the scrap.

“I’ll get you your apples. A promise is a promise,” I told him as I raised the scrap to the light to study it. Black, muddy, but the delicate pinstripes were still visible. “Where did you get this, buddy?” Of course , my pet boar wasn’t going to answer that, and I had a suspicion I knew anyway. I dropped the scrap on my table and moved to one of the high cabinets where I kept my apples —w ell out of Hogzy’s reach , or he’d destroy my furniture to get to them.

“Is that a piece of double - worsted pinstriped wool?” Cammy asked as she gave my boar a wide berth to get to the table. She was peering at the scrap with a smile pulling at her pretty pink lips, and I paused , mid-reach for the apples , to stare, enchanted by the sight. “This is a piece of Thorne’s suit,” she said in wonder. Then she caught m e by surprise — most normies thought boars were scary . D ropping to her knees, she threw her arms around Hogzy’s neck , h er fingers expertly digging into the scruff behind his tufted ears to give him the kind of scratches he loved. “Good boy! Did you take a nice big bite out of him? Give him a proper mud bath, did you?”

Hogzy seemed to forget all about his coveted apples , and with shameless moaning and snorts , received all the adoration Cammy was willing to bestow on him. With a thud that rattled the rafters, he threw himself onto his side and exposed his round belly. Cammy did not even seem to mind the spray of mud that had dried in his coarse fur as she did exactly what he wanted. “How on earth did you end up with a pet pig, Halvard?” she asked.

That made Hogzy snort indignantly , and I laughed. “He’s not a pig but a boar. A w ild boar , technically. I found him when he was a baby, and we’ve been pals ever since. Right , Hogzy?” My buddy seemed to remember his apples now and took his chance, rising with more agility than you ’d expect a big beast like him to have. He yanked the basket straight out of my hands and , with a gleeful snort , scooted beneath the table, rattling it roughly because he didn’t quite fit. Then he threw himself onto his sleeping pad and happily began munching.

When Cammy rose from her crouch, I knew exactly what she was about to say, and I didn’t want her to end this. “Will I see you again?” I aske d before she could speak. I moved around the table quickly , though I tried not to rush and make her feel threatened. Slipping my glasses from my face simply because I could, I tucked them into my pocket and reached out to cup her face. She let me kiss her, her pulse pounding in her throat, her breathing filled with little shudders and moans.

“Yes… Halvard… I want to.” Her eyes flicked from my face to the bed with its tangled sheets , where we’d spen t several very pleasurable moments. We had not finished what we’d started, but I was much more a predator than she knew . I could be patient. I knew she was thinking about what we’d done —what we’d shared — when we’d barely said a word to each other. My brain whirred as it filled with ideas, with all the things I wanted to do to her.

I settled on the one thing I knew would make her feel safe —something that would feel familiar to a woman like her. I couldn’t throw her in the deep end in just one night ; I had to make this easy for her. Learning that my ability to turn people to stone was real — that was enough. “How about a date? Dinner at a restaurant. Tomorrow is my day off ; I could pick you up…” I trailed off, my mind floundering as I tried to remember what a normal date was supposed to look like.

Cammy saved me by smiling — a warm, wondrous kind of smile — her eyes filled with discovery. “Yes, I’d like that very much. ” And then she pulled an honest - to - God business card from her coat pocket. Flipping it over, she wrote her personal number on the back . “Text me the details, yes? Tomorrow, seven?”

The business card was printed on thick, lux u rious paper and gold - embossed with her name : Camryn Mayfield, A ttorney at L aw. Ah , fuck, she was a lawyer. She was so educated and fancy . H ow could the two of us possibly make this work? We were from completely opposite worlds. Tucking the business card with her number into my jacket pocket, right over my heart , I was determined to try. Sally the Seer had made a prediction about tonight : a gaze was all it took. I hoped she was right.

“Let me escort you to your car, darling,” I offered, suddenly feeling like I was part of her world. I felt important, fancy, as she slid her arm through mine and let me glide her from the Airstream. Too bad I was taking her to her car instead of on the tour I had envisioned. I didn’t want her to go—I wanted tonight to last forever. When we left the campgrounds and entered the still-crowded carnival grounds, I didn’t forget the fear my mate had felt here—the fear of the male whom Hogzy and my Carnival brothers had taken care of for me. If they’d done their jobs right, they would have driven him away. But I wasn’t taking any chances.

“I called my friend Lis ; she’s meeting me at the car,” Cammy said, leaning in close to speak next to m y ear to be heard. Music was blaring — slow and out of tune — from the merry-go-round, but the eerie sound only made the crowd more rambunctious. The re was a hint of fear, of unease, a thrill of adventure they could not resist. I searched around us for any sign of the man Hogzy had taken a bite out of, but did not see him.

“Why was he after you, Cammy? Are you going to be in danger when you leave?” If the answer was yes, I knew I wouldn’t let her go — not without me to accompany her. I was braced for a fight, but she shook her head firmly , her jaw set at a stubborn angle.

“No, I’ll be fine. Thorne only cares about what I do in public. He’s…” S he sighed , and when she looked at me, I knew she was struggling to say what she was thinking. It was shame that held her tongue, so I waited — no urging, no prodding. “He’s my ex, and it ended badly. At least, it ended for me, but he still seems to think he has a claim. He makes trouble for me as soon as I so much as go on a date or show up at an event.” She held her tongue after that, but I heard what she wasn’t saying. Going on a date with her tomorrow could spell trouble . I t could mean this Thorne would show up again to start something. Excitement thrummed through me at the thought. He’d be in for a surprise if he tried anything with me.

“Bring it,” I said with a smirk. The words had only just left my mouth when we reached the edge of the carnival grounds. Here, a big , empty field had been converted in to a parking lot. Testament to the c arnival’s twisted popularity, it was still very full, despite being almost midnight. Listening to Cammy’s softly murmured instructions, I guided her between the rows of cars, my eyes searching for any sign of danger. There was a prickling at the back of my neck that warned me of danger, and I was not an idiot — I trusted my instincts.

Cammy was not leaving my sight.