by C. D. Gorri
“Uh huh, so why didn’t you announce yourself?”
The question was direct and honest and Randall was in even deeper shit than he imagined. He expected anger or annoyance, but she seemed amused by the whole thing. He wondered for a split second if maybe she orchestrated it, but the thought quickly vanished from his mind. Her enjoyment of the night air and the cool water were far too real for her to have made it up.
“Well, I didn’t want to intrude.”
“Obviously. Well, you’re not a horny teenager looking to put pictures of me in my birthday suit on the web so, I have to assume it was accidental. At any rate, thank you for so chivalrously coming to my aid.”
“Anytime,” he said and leaned a little closer. Damn, she smelled like coconut oil and sandy beaches and a little like laundry soap. Fresh and clean and Earthy. He wanted to roll around in that scent. In her.
“Goodnight, Mr. Graves.”
“It’s Randall.”
“Goodnight, Randall.”
“Goodnight, Tulla.”
CHAPTER 9
The next day was relatively quiet. Tulla placed an order for a new modem online at the library and it was delivered next day as promised. She had planned to wait till the next time she ventured to the mainland, and she hated to go back on her word to Mr. Lowell, who made the reservation for Randall, but she had no choice.
The little teenage cretin who sometimes visited his aunt, her closest neighbor, had crept onto her part of the shore and took photos of her engaged in her little habit of skinny dipping in the ocean at night. And worse, the little creep posted them and possibly sold them to other creeps wanting a sneak peek! Thank goodness Randall, uh, Mr. Graves, caught him before he uploaded the latest video he filmed.
Her cheeks grew warm as she realized again that Randall had also seen her naked. Her embarrassment went out the window when she thought of how he’d found Brayden’s hiding spot! He was some hero alright. He looked positively enraged at the teenager when he discovered what he was up to. Tulla hoped he scared the crap out of the kid. Really scared the crap out of him! She couldn’t believe he was selling nude pictures of unsuspecting women without their knowledge or consent!
The worst part of the night wasn’t the fact she’d been seen and potentially exploited. No, she’d get over that, but her stomach flipped over itself when she realized Randall had been hurt. Tulla was glad she still renewed her CPR/First Aid certification every year. The knowledge had certainly come in handy.
Of course, there was nothing she could have read in any book or taken in any class that would have prepared her for the jolt to her system she got just by touching that man. Was it only two days ago? She felt as though she were walking on hot coals ever since.
Especially when a certain pair of caramel colored eyes found hers across the room. She tried not to meet them, did her best to appear unaffected and courteous. Tulla treated all her guests with the utmost respect for their privacy and needs.
She made sure he had fresh towels every day, home-cooked meals and snacks, a glass of sweet tea in the afternoon with a slice of a fresh peach the way she noticed he liked it, and some brochures for the local golf resorts, fishing expeditions, and the few restaurants on the island.
He was always polite and thanked her properly, but she swore he was picturing her naked every time he looked at her. She’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t like it. Still, she was in trouble and she knew it.
Her tall, dark, and too-handsome-to-be-true guest made her quiver in places she had long since forgotten about. Now that the weekend was over and Danny was heading back to school she wasn’t sure what she would do if he didn’t quit making eyes at her. Put the reins on Tulla girl, you’ve been a fool once in your life for a man and once was enough!
She would never regret her marriage to Tom Nirvelli. The man didn’t deserve her praise or even a mention really, but he had given her the most precious thing in the entire world. He’d given her a son.
Daniel was amazing in every sense of the word. He was her entire reason for being. She loved that little boy to pieces. Focus on your boy, she told herself firmly as she packed his lunch into a plain brown bag. After misplacing several rather expensive lunch boxes, Tulla had decided old-fashioned was sometimes the best way to go.
She now packed Danny’s snack and sandwich in a brown paper bag and found that the boy was just as happy with those as with the more expensive kind. She filled his sports bottle with ice and filtered water and set both on the kitchen counter.
She grabbed a felt tip pen and drew a mini comic strip on the front of the brown bag. She pictured his smile when he saw it! Today she drew a picture of a frog jumping on lily pads and then missing the last one. Only the frog’s eyes and droplets of water were visible in that square. Cute. She signed it with hugs and kisses. Always.
That’s how Randall found her, bent over a brown paper bag with a marker and smiling at the cartoon she was drawing for her son. Randall’s heart thudded in his chest. It had been hell the last few days trying to forget the image of her swimming in the moonlight out of his mind.
For a few wonderful minutes, she had been completely unaware of his presence, naked and free in every sense of the word. Her soft skin glowing, her hair loose and curling around her shoulder. When she emerged dripping from the cool, salty waves of the Atlantic he had to bite his tongue to keep from growling aloud. Beautiful.
She was still beautiful now, with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail and a smile on her soft plump lips. He didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even breathe. He loved watching her, observing the tiny sparkle in her eyes that came from the genuine happiness it gave her to care for her son. In his entire life, he couldn’t remember looking upon anything as lovely as Tulla. My Tulla.
“Good morning, sir,” a small voice behind him broke the spell. He met her eyes as she turned to see him standing there. Daniel race in with his backpack open spilling its contents along the way.
“Hurry up, Mama, the bus is coming!”
“Easy there, champ, you’re gonna need this,” Randall smiled and scooped up the pencil case and folder that had fallen out of the bright blue backpack.
“Thanks, Mr. Graves!”
“Call me Randall,” he smiled at the kid and laughed when his eyes grew big and round. He looked at his Mama who nodded first then he said, “Thanks, Randall! I’ll see you later maybe we can play catch or something.”
“Wait a second, young man, here’s your lunch and what about my kiss?”
The boy threw his arms around his mother’s neck and gave her a loud kiss right on the mouth before scampering off to the front door. Tulla followed him and waved to the bus driver as her boy set off for another exciting Monday of school and recess.
“That is one lucky boy,” Randal said watching her blow a kiss and wave goodbye to her son.
“Are you kidding? I’m the lucky one. I get to be his mom.”
“That is a lovely thought and I admit much more noble then the ones I’ve been having, Ms. Nirvelli,” Randall’s eyes ate her up from her bare feet to the top of her head. She was something alright.
“I thought we were on a first name basis now, Randall, after all you’ve seen me naked,” she waked past him and made her way back to the kitchen with that subtle sway of her hips that kept him staring. If he didn’t know any better, he could swear she was flirting with him. Hmm. Interesting.
“By the way, the modem is here, I’ll connect it after breakfast then if you wouldn’t mind terribly will you show me how to track the images that Brayden took of me?”
“Yes, ma’am, but I can set everything up while you do what you gotta do.”
“Oh no, please, breakfast is part of the package. I feel terrible about this already, the least I can do is feed you first. Come on, I’ll get you some coffee.”
Randall nodded and followed her. He was hungry all right, but not just for eggs and toast. This woman stirred feelings in him he thought were long gone. She po
ured him a mug of dark, rich coffee. When he raised an inquisitive eyebrow, she just smiled.
“I noticed you take it black. You never use the cream I put out when I serve coffee.”
“Thank you,” his voice was deeper than usual. He was pleased by the fact that she knew what he liked. Silly and old-fashioned, but he wasn’t as young as he looked. Werewolves rarely were.
“Alright, you know you can take that to the dining room and I’ll bring out your breakfast.”
“Is it okay if I stay in here,” with you, he added silently. She looked startled, but nodded and smiled at him a little nervously. The beat of heart told him she was just as nervous as he felt. Maybe there was something there after all.
A timer when off and she walked to the oven carefully putting mitts on her hand and bending down to take out a mini casserole dish. The contents of which made his mouth water.
“This is a South Carolina staple, my great-aunt taught me this recipe. I hope you like shrimp and grits,” she smiled and set a clean plate down with utensils in front of him. Then she set down the casserole dish with the drool-worthy shrimp and grits and a serving spoon. She walked backed to the oven and took out a tray with some homemade drop biscuits and piled them into a basket. Next to it, she set out a bowl of sausage gravy.
Tulla went to the fridge as he piled food on his plate and came back with a small bowl of fresh cut fruit and a dish with various jams, jellies, and whipped butter. Lastly, she placed a small plate, with a warm cinnamon bun oozing pecans and icing, to his right. Randall’s eyes widened. Everything smelled and looked good if she did say so herself.
She bit her lip as she watched him take his first bite. He closed his eyes and exhaled with pleasure sending little tingles up her spine. She was a good cook, she knew it too, but for some reason his opinion really mattered.
“This is amazing!” He exclaimed and took another bite before using his napkin and sipping his coffee.
“Do you really like it?”
“I love it, we don’t usually do grits up in Jersey, but Charley, that’s my uh, boss’s wife, she makes a polenta dish that’s not half bad, but this knocks it right out of the park!”
“Thank you. You seem fond of her?” He heard the question and nodded.
“Oh yeah, she’s great. Rafe, that’s my boss, and his wife, Charley, are an amazing couple. She cooks most of our meals even though we have staff at the Manor who do stuff like that.”
“You live with your boss?”
“Um, yeah, well, part of the job is to live on site at Macconwood Manor. There’s a huge main house and a bunch of guest houses on the complex. We have everything, a gym, a pool, game room, gardens, playground, woods for hiking, and a private beach that is really close.”
“Is it just you and your boss and his wife?”
“Oh no, there are several of us who live there and we often have guests. Business related, that is,” it wasn’t a lie, he consoled himself with not being able to tell her everything. After all, one didn’t just stand up and say Oh yeah, I’m a Werewolf and I live with my Pack Alpha because not only am I in charge of Pack technology, I’m also a Wolf Guard!
“Wow, sounds interesting! I don’t think I ever heard of a company quite like that. Is the whole company about computers or is that just your department?”
“Uh, just my department. Technically I have my own corporation. That’s where I do most of my code work and where I file technological patents and such. But I, uh, sort of subcontract a greater portion of my time to Rafe. He got me started after all. We, uh, do a lot of different things.”
“Wow! So, you have a contract with Macconwood Corporation, that’s the name, right? Wow! That is amazing. I think I remember reading about a youth center too? Am I right?”
“Oh, Cat, my boss’s sister, and her husband Tate, started a non-profit youth center for troubled kids and teens. Community is very important to us.”
“That’s really wonderful! And very necessary in these times. I lost my parents when I was a teenager. I came here to live with my great-aunt the summer before college, it was the best three months of my life. Then I started at a state school on the mainland. I waitressed my way through most of it. Then I met Tom, my husband and, well, now I’m here.”
The tone of her voice held something he couldn’t quite place. Sadness or regret? He wanted to ease her mind or at least turn it to something else. It didn’t do any good to dwell on the past.
“Why don’t we get started on that computer now? If you’d show me the way?”
He followed her to her private quarters and sat at the small table in the chair she indicated. The smell of coconut drifted into his nostrils as she leaned over him to give the old laptop’s monitor a small smack on the side.
“Sorry, this thing is temperamental,” she backed up a little self consciously and Randall felt the loss of her body heat immediately. Damn, she smelled good.
“No worries, um, do you have the modem?” He cleared his throat and accepted the cardboard box from her. It took him all of three minutes to set things up.
The computer sat on a small card table against a wall in what he imagined was Danny’s play room. There was a tiny, worn loveseat with a colorful blanket thrown casually over the back. A coffee table with stacks of little storage boxes containing toys underneath it took up most of the floor space, and a TV with an old gaming system hooked up sat against the opposite wall.
The room was clean and tidy, everything in it’s place. The smell of furniture polish and glass cleaner lingered despite the open window. It was a happy space. Full of care and love, nothing like the house he grew up in.
“I’ll just grab some stuff from my room,” he mumbled and retreated to his room. He needed a moment to clear his head. He grabbed his phone and Chromebook, both of which were more powerful than her older laptop.
“I’m sorry, I know my computer is old, but it works for our needs,” she shrugged apologetically as he strode back in.
“It’s a fine machine, mine is just a bit faster,” Randall downplayed the difference in their computers as he sat his down and powered it up.
“It’s second hand, my laptop that is, I got it at a church sale. You don’t have to spare my feelings, Mr. Graves, I’ve got a little boy to clothe and feed, computers are not exactly a priority for me, but Danny does enjoy his games and it does help in running the B&B.”
He was a jerk. A total freaking POS. He didn’t mean to make her feel self-conscious. Especially not when it was obvious that she gave everything she had to taking care of her boy. Hell, the room he sat in was evidence of that.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything. My work is programming, I need the newest and fastest machines to get anything done. I was in no way trying to ridicule you. I think you are an amazing person, Tulla.”
“Thank you,” her cheeks turned a dusky pink at his words and he fond it quite charming. He wondered if she turned that same color in any other circumstances.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and walked out of the room.
He felt like an interloper sitting there. Tulla clearly loved her son and took very good care of him. He smiled as he thought of the little boy with his blonde hair and blue-gray eyes. He had the look of his mother. An angel’s face with a good mind and kind heart.
What would it be like to have a little carbon copy of himself running around? The thought made his pulse speed up. He never had a family of his own. He was raised by his father. The two of them were alone those first few years of his life. He left home at sixteen and never looked back. His dad was a hard man and he had none of the warmth for his son that Tulla obviously had for hers.
She left the room for a few moments while he logged onto the teenager’s various social media accounts after receiving a list from his Aunt that morning. She was exceedingly grateful they didn’t alert the authorities and in turn gave them all the information he asked for while on conferencing in the boy’s parents on her cell phone.
/> Tulla insisted on a written letter apology and a promise to never trespass on anyone’s privacy again. He was surprised when Tulla informed the boy that should she find out that he ever did anything like this again she would be informing the authorities for his own good. He smiled at the memory of her stern words. She had grit. He liked that.
He found the offending images, thankfully they were grainy and her face was not visible in them, and he erased all traces of them. It was more difficulty tracking down the IP addresses of every person he sold images too, but Randall got all the information he needed in a matter of minutes.
The Chromebook was in no way as powerful as his own laptop, but he could hack his way into the servers where the kid’s customers kept their files. One by one he deleted the images Brayden White had sold. There were five total videos and forty images of various women. If Randall had to guess he’d say they were neighbors or maybe even mothers of the kid’s friends.
Randall deleted all of them. He then put a bit of hacker code on the kid’s PayPal account that would alert him if the boy was receiving payments again. The little bastard deserved a beating for this shit, but Randall had to make due with happily erasing every image he had ever saved. The kid’s collection of pornography was damn big and it took a moment to delete all of it.
He was happy the parents gave him remote desktop access to the boy’s computer without too much coercion. Randall searched his caches and tracked all of his online movements for the past six months. The kid wasn’t all that savvy, but he managed to keep this form his parents and the parental locks they had placed on his machine. Garbage code.
Randall grunted and made some private changes to the device. If the punk decided to take up photography again not only would Randall be alerted, but a copy of the images would be immediately sent to the boy’s parents. If such an infraction happened again Randall put a virus in the machine that would cause it to begin to erase itself. Nice.
Freaking teenagers! He remembered when he used to swipe a look at his father’s girlie magazines just to see a female form. He supposed the internet made for easier access, but didn’t these kids know that every move they made could be watched and traced back to them? Idiots. Making money off of illegally obtained pictures of naked women was not only stupid, but it was also criminal. Randall just shook his head.