Chapter 1 #2
On the radio, the singer was crooning something about giving away his heart to someone, or possibly the other way around. I looked up through the branches at the frantic female and felt myself grinning again.
“I’m fine,” I admitted, and decided to tell the truth. “You can knock a tree over on me anytime.”
“What?” She didn’t seem to be paying attention.
In fact, she was squirming now, and her knee slammed into my thigh as she tried to untangle herself from the gripping branches.
“Did it hit your head? Are you seeing double? Oh God, I’m an idiot,” she ended with a groan as she flopped her way out of the grip of the tree.
“I should have looked where I was going!”
My grin faded, because those words sounded like someone else’s, someone whom she was repeating. As soon as her weight left the pine, I rolled out from underneath it and sat up, my attention on her. “It’s not your fault. You were hurting—”
“No, I wasn’t.” She sat with her legs drawn up, her elbows on her knees, and her head buried in her palms. “It was stupid. I was stupid. It’s just—” She took a deep breath and lifted her head. “It’s just a silly game.”
Her lips had curled into a rueful smile, and I found myself fascinated. Unable to help myself, I shifted closer so I could settle on my ass beside her, careful not to touch her, but leaning closer, closer… Her scent was incredible; brown sugar, the sap from the pine, apples, and something spiced.
“What’s the game?” I murmured, gaze on her lips, willing to ask anything to keep her talking.
When she cocked her head to one side, her long chestnut hair fell over one shoulder, and she felt…familiar. As if I should know her.
“You’ve never heard of Whammagedon?” She pointed upward, and it took me a moment to realize she was referencing the song, which was ending.
“It’s just a game—if you hear this song, you have to turn it off in the first ten seconds, or leave the store or whatever.
The radio host likes to play it to mess with us. ”
Sure enough, a laughing host had come over the speakers to jokingly ask who just “got Whammed”, and the female’s smile turned more genuine as she shrugged.
“I really am sorry.” To my surprise, her hand rested on my forearm. “I can’t believe I was that clumsy—well, no, I can believe it, I’m just really sorry. Can I buy you the tree to make up for it?”
She was…asking me. Something. Words. I needed words. I couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought, though, because my Kteer was throbbing in my chest and my pulse was pounding in my ears and my cock—
Well, when in all the hells had my cock gotten involved?
Right around the time she touched you.
Yeah, she was wearing thick gloves—how was she not sweating in that get-up?—but I could feel the heat of her fingers through the wool. They were pressed against my bare skin, and every inch of me was focused on that touch.
“I…” I didn’t even know her name. How could I react this way to a female I didn’t know? Focus, Sylvik! “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
Her grin slowly turned shy, and she dropped her chin, green eyes peeking at me from under her lashes. “I was apologizing to you,” she murmured in a surprisingly husky voice.
Gods below.
I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to press her down on this withered grass, here among these dying trees, and kiss her. Taste her. And I didn’t even know her name!
But when I opened my mouth to ask, we were interrupted by a new, booming voice. “What’s this? What’s going on? Is everyone okay?”
The female started and glanced almost guiltily behind her. A large middle-aged man—who appeared to have more beard than head—was limping quickly toward us, and when she scrambled to her feet, I followed more slowly.
“It was my fault, Mr. Jurgen, I’m sorry.”
“No,” I assured the man, “I am to blame.” I was reaching for my wallet. “How much is that tree?”
“Oh!” The female’s gaze swung to mine. “You’re going to get it?”
“You said you were looking for a big one, right?” I nodded to the felled tree. “This one is perfect—no bald spots.” I winked, to let her know I’d been paying attention to her lesson, but she merely flushed again and dropped her gaze. “I’ll load it up for you.”
“Thank you, but I can buy it—” she began, but the older man interrupted.
“I’ll do the loading! It’s my lot, and I’m not giving up a chance to work that nifty tree-wrapper!” Mr. Jurgen stepped between us, squatted down, and lifted the eight-foot pine with a loud grunt.
I stepped back to give him room, impressed despite myself, and turned to draw the female back into conversation.
But she was already backing away, following the tree-lot proprietor, her eyes concerned as they watched me. “I’m sorry, really,” she called.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, tamping down the urge to chase after her. “No harm done.”
Except…
There had been harm done.
As my mystery female disappeared behind a row of cut trees, making it clear she didn’t want to further our acquaintance, I found myself inhaling deeply, trying to capture that delicious scent.
It wasn’t until I winced that I realized my claws were pressed against my chest, digging into my shirt… trying to silence my livid Kteer.
That primitive part of me, leftover from the days, generations ago, when we needed to hunt fight kill protect Mate Mate Mate to survive, the part of me which my mother used to tell stories about…
My Kteer was urging me to go after the female and scoop her up and take her back to my cave and claim her.
But I didn’t live in a cave. I lived in a brand-new, three-bedroom house with a large porch and a high speed Wi-Fi connection and a state-of-the-art automated house system.
And although I’d spent the last decade devoting myself to my work as an assistant to one of the country’s most important businessmen, I’d been rejected by enough females to know I wasn’t the sort of male to push myself on one.
No matter how much this one stirred my Kteer—and my cock—she didn’t want me. And that might be disappointing, but it was okay.
Sighing, I turned away from the direction she’d gone. I was still determined to celebrate this holiday, but I didn’t think I’d be able to choose one of these almost-dead trees to bring into my home. Not when every breath reminded me of the scent of her.
So I shoved my hands in my pockets, tightened my jaw against the familiar disappointment, and turned my steps toward home.