Chapter 2
Dravik
Stupid fucking piece of shit car!” Oil squirts all over my face and shirt, causing me to let out a growl of frustration that sends Missy hiding in her bed and looking at me with those round brown eyes that say I'm being unreasonable with my anger at inanimate objects again.
Today is unseasonably warm, so I decide to pull off my sweat-soaked shirt anyway, wiping the oil from my face with it before tossing it to the ground in a dirty heap.
Just as I crouch down to scratch Missy behind her soft ears, I hear the crunching of car tires on gravel and straighten up to see who's intruding on my solitude.
Most people who come by are here in dusty work trucks seeking parts, but this car is a new, sleek black sedan.
I scooch back into the shadows of my shop before this person can see me, and focus all my attention on the spell that I was taught by the Coven nearly fifty years ago, when I was an outcast in this small town.
My neck twists with discomfort as my large wings shrink back into my body, and my horns smooth out into my forehead.
Missy twists her head back and forth, looking at me with interest as I shrink down into a mostly normal man.
The yip of a dog snaps my eyes back open, and I see a blur of fluffy white launching itself toward Missy.
“Tito, wait!” A woman’s voice shouts.
I glance up to see her step out of the vehicle, and feel my breath stop in my chest. She’s wearing tight black leggings that hug every sculpted muscle of her legs, and a loose black sweater that is doing nothing to hide the fact that she has generous breasts underneath.
She turns to close the door, and my eyes immediately zero in on her rounded ass, and I can’t help but think how perfectly it would fit in my massive demon hands.
She checks her braids in the reflection of the car window, delicately adjusting the elegant top knot that is twirled on top of her head.
The mix of black, gold, and copper braids gleam in the sun, accenting her toffee eyes.
No, stop it. Humans have no interest in me, and although I have an unhealthy interest in their gadgets and gizmos, humans themselves have rejected me repeatedly over the decades, and I’ve learned my lesson.
There can be no companionship in my natural form, and to live otherwise with a human would be a lie.
I step into the sun, my human skin prickling in the heat, the discomfort making me wish I could change into my true form here and now.
Would she run, screaming to our pathetic town police?
To make matters worse, she has spotted me, and I can see how her eyes rove over my bare human chest, lips parted in a way that lets me know she likes what she sees.
But it’s all a lie. Her lashes bat at me, and darts to the dogs, as though she is embarrassed that I have caught her staring.
I should have grabbed a clean shirt while I was shifting, but it's too late now.
She crouches to pick up her dog, but Missy and Tito leap playfully out of the bed and start zooming around my workshop, their happy yips echoing.
“I’m so sorry!” Her cheeks are flushed with color, and I have a sudden urge to lick her face, to taste her. “I guess Tito is lonely; he’s been without his dog park for too long, I think.”
“Dog park?” My voice comes out gruffer than I wanted, rusty with disuse.
The woman takes a tiny step back, enough for me to notice, and my belly swoops unpleasantly.
I’m fucking this up already, and I don’t even know why she’s here.
Missy leaps by me, Tito chasing her, and I almost feel jealous of this instant bond our dogs are having in comparison to this awkward exchange.
“It’s a park where dogs get together to play.
It’s common in big cities where people don’t have access to all this.
” She gestures widely with her arms, as though all this outdoor beauty could be collected by her.
A delicious strip of deep brown skin peeks out from under her shirt, sending my heart racing. Stop it, stop it, stop it.
She is bathed in the fall sun and absolutely glowing with it.
I think back to the ancients, how they would cleanse their skin with oil, barely draped in thin gauzy fabric as they worked it into their thighs.
Wickedly, my mind imagines her like this, those clear honey eyes inviting me to slick her body with oil, dripping it into the valley of her breasts.
Her hand appears in my field of vision, breaking my daydream. “I’m Simone, it's nice to meet you. Dravik, right?”
Her warm hands find mine, slotted so perfectly together. I swallow before speaking, hoping to find a tone of voice that isn’t so off-putting.
“Yes.” It's all I can manage, gravely and rough.
She practically snatches her hand back from me, and I don’t blame her. I am such a fuckwit.
I clear my throat and try again. “What can I do for you?” I wave her into the shade of my shop and gesture to a couple of beat-up chairs.
As she sits, it occurs to me that maybe she might be thirsty, so I step around our wrassling dogs and grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge. As I pass it to her, my fingertips brush hers, sending pleasant tickles along my arm.
“Thank you.” She takes a deep swig, tilting her head back, exposing her lovely throat as she drinks. A trickle of water slides out of the corner of her mouth. I grip the handles of my chair to keep myself from launching out of it to catch that drip with my tongue.
Clearing my throat again, I decide to watch our dogs playing rather than looking at her directly, because I might stare, and humans hate staring.
“Um, so, I met a few nice ladies in town, and I was telling them about my water heater in my rental cabin that is broken, and they suggested I come see you, since the part is going to take too long to come from Bozeman, and it’s getting pretty cool out.”
Those honey eyes are gazing over my body again; I can feel them on me.
She might as well be running her hands over mine, teasing me.
Tito and Miss have finally worn themselves out and flop into her bed together.
I notice Tito sniffing Missy’s face, licking her ears softly.
Why can’t life be simple for us like it is for dogs?
“I probably have the part. You staying in the Wyrdwood Cabins off the main highway?”
“Yes, that’s right. The landlord seems to think the part will come in, but I don’t think so.”
Barking out a laugh, I stand up and walk into the shop. “Ezren is too trusting; he’ll wait forever for that part. He probably forgot he ordered it.”
Timid footsteps sound behind me, and I can tell she’s unsure if she should follow me or not.
“It is hard to get a hold of him sometimes. I’ve only seen him a few times in the evening.”
Typical. “Ezren is very…shy.” Lame excuse, but the best I can manage without revealing too much.
Digging around in a bin of parts, I dig out the best of the three I have and look it over to make sure it's okay. “It’s probably the thermocouple. I’ve got a few here, but this is the best of the bunch. ”
She takes it from my hands, gingerly looking it over, forming a small crease between her brows as she inspects it.
Up close, I can see that she is slightly older than what I first assumed, with small lines around her eyes from smiling, and a slight softness to her jaw.
It only adds to her loveliness. She bites her plump bottom lip in concentration, and I have to bite back my smile.
She is so thoroughly a woman, and something about her makes me want to sweep her into my arms and take care of every need she has.
I take the part back from her. “I’ll install it for you, it won’t take more than half an hour to do.” I’m looking around for a clean shirt to put on when she snatches it back from my hands, a deeper crease forming between her eyes now, this one different, angry even.
“That won’t be necessary, I’m perfectly capable of installing this myself. If I can troubleshoot BIOS settings and debug custom PC builds blindfolded, then I can certainly figure out this little water heater part, okay?”
My brain hitches with excitement. She’s a techy! I try to come up with something witty to say, but nothing comes to me. I simply stare at her as though I’ve never met anyone like her before, which is technically true.
“How much?” She’s looking in her bag, presumably for her wallet, and I feel all the color drain away from my face.
I wasn’t planning on charging her anything for this part, and now I realize I might have stepped in it, because she’s clearly done with this exchange and wants to leave.
Don’t go. But I can’t think of a thing to say to keep her here talking with me.
My hands rake through my hair. “I don’t feel right charging you; it should be Ezren eating the cost, it’s his cabin. I’ll just bill him.”
She pins me with those eyes, sending my heartbeat into my throat again. Moments pass before her face softens slightly. “You’re right. You’ll get in touch with Ezren, then? Let him know I’ve got the part and it's all good?”
“Yup. You’re all set, then.” My heart sinks; the conversation clearly over.
A curt nod is all I get before she hauls Tito into her arms and waves at me from her car window.
I scrub a hand over my face and flop back down in the chair.
Missy comes over to me, laying her shaggy head over my leg in sympathy.
My fingers automatically find the soft spot behind her ears, where the fur is so silky and light that it brings my heart rate down just petting her.
She blinks up at me and I sigh to myself.
“I know I fucked it up, you don’t have to rub it in, girl. ”