Abra Cadaver

by Christine DePetrillo

  “Rescued is a bit strong. I merely heard the child scream in the woods and went to check it out.” Holly gestured behind her and the camera followed to show the wooded area hugging the back of the school.

  “Not everyone would have checked it out,” the reporter said.

  “Anyone who works with children for a living would have,” Holly replied. “It’s in our nature to protect the students.” She offered a humble shrug, and Keane grumbled when he realized he’d slid off the couch and crawled closer to the television, hypnotized by her face.

  “Admit it, fool. You want Holly.”

  With that realization, a scorching flash of anger zipped through him. Hendrick was no doubt in those woods behind her school this morning terrorizing that child. Holly and Hendrick literally could have stepped on the same leaves, passed by the same trees and boulders, breathed the same air.

  Keane rose to his feet and paced in the living room. He didn’t hear the rest of the newscast as his fury built. Holly could have been seriously hurt or worse helping that child. Hendrick was a pedophile, but Keane knew enough about scumbags to make the leap into believing Hendrick would have targeted Holly as quickly as a child. She was a grown woman—Keane’s reaction to her femininity was evidence of that—but she had a child-like wonder in her green eyes all the time. A sick jackass like Hendrick wouldn’t be able to resist.

  The more he thought about this, the more his rage grew. He hadn’t been this angry in a while. If something happened to Holly, he was sure he’d lose the control he’d spent centuries perfecting. A control that was necessary for him to do his abra cadavering and keep a low profile.

  He wasn’t the least bit sleepy now as thoughts pinballed around in his head. Holly needed protection, but he couldn’t be the one to provide it during the day. The sunlight chased him away into the shadows. He’d have to enlist the help of someone in guarding her while she was out and about with the sunshine.

  At night, however, when she mostly stayed at home, Keane could keep a tight watch on her. He’d have to quit the post office job, but he had enough cash stashed in various places to see him through.

  If Holly did go out at night, he could go with her. She’d have to understand he didn’t want her to fall prey to someone like Hendrick. On seventh nights, he would make her promise to stay home.

  The plan was simple, and he felt better for having come up with one. He spent the remainder of the day watching for updates on Hendrick, but none were broadcasted. At 3:45 p.m., Holly’s car pulled into the driveway, and he planted himself on the recliner perpendicular to the couch facing the front door. Normally he would have hidden in his bedroom, but he had things to say to Holly. Things meant to protect her.

  When she came into the house, her eyes connected with Keane’s. A moment passed where he thought she was going to ignore him, but instead she dumped her schoolbag on the couch and walked deeper into the living room. Without a word, she lowered onto the couch and petted the armrest with her hand as if the motion was calming to her. Keane couldn’t help wanting to be that armrest, wanting to be under those slender, caressing fingers.

  She motioned to the television with her other hand. “Did you see what went down at school today?”

  “I did, and I think you need to be more careful until this guy is caught.” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a scolding, but that’s how it came out.

  “I did what I thought was best.” Holly rested her hands across her stomach and held on to herself.

  “Do you feel all right?” He slid to the edge of the recliner.

  “A little anxious, I guess.” She shrugged. “It’ll pass.”

  “It’s okay to be afraid, Holly. Hendrick is a dangerous man.” Keane stopped himself from moving to sit beside Holly on the couch.

  “Thanks for reminding me.” She made a move to get up, but he stood and touched her shoulder. She looked up at him. “I’m tired, Keane, and I’ve got work to do. I didn’t get to any of my plans today with what was going on. I have to adjust the entire week.”

  “I just want to talk to you for a minute.” This wasn’t going the way he’d planned, but he had to say what was on his mind. Some of it, at least. “I don’t want you alone during the day, Holly. Do you have a friend you could stick with or something?”

  “Yeah, my friend, Leora, and I decided we’d buddy up. Ride into work together and such.”

  “Good, good.” Keane was relieved Holly had thought of the same thing. “If you can do things like grocery shop or other errands after sundown, I can go with you. I can protect you.”

  “And why would you want to do that?” Her tone cut into him. Bitter, acidy. “You don’t even like me. Our exchange this morning proves that.”

  “I like you, Holly.” I more than like you. He sat beside her. “I want you to be safe.”

  “So I can do something important, and you can leave.” She made it sound almost like a question, and he wanted to tell her he’d never leave, but he didn’t get to decide that.

  “I guess so. All I know is I want to protect you.” That was true. No confusion there.

  “I don’t want you to protect me.” She sat still beside him. He couldn’t read her emotions and feared what she would say next. “I want you to teach me to protect myself.”

  “Protect yourself? Like you want to know some moves?” He had not expected this response. She didn’t look the type to want to lay a hurting hand on anyone.

  “Yeah, nothing complex. Just something to help me outmaneuver or temporarily disable someone. I’m not looking for weapons training or anything. Maybe some hand and footwork that won’t make me so helpless. You know this kind of stuff.”

  “Because I’m a demon killer.”

  Holly shook her head. “Because you were a soldier. Because you are a centuries-old warrior. Because you are a man.”

  Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet hers. She’d called him a man without a second thought. Was it possible she could see him as a man and not a monster?

  Chapter Sixteen

  With Keane sitting this close to her on the couch, Holly’s emotions were a jumbled up mess. She kept a distance between them, but it was taking all her energy to do so. Every cell in her body wanted to cross that space, to press her body against his, to repeat that kiss they’d shared this morning. To have more than a kiss.

  “All right,” he said slowly. “I can teach you a few moves to defend yourself, but it’s not enough, Holly.”

  “I can’t be with someone every second of every minute. You know that’s not reasonable. Besides, you won’t be around on seventh nights. You won’t be around at all after you’re released.” Saying that aloud made her stomach ache, her eyes sting, her throat constrict.

  “On seventh nights, you could stay home.”

  “What makes you think I’d be any safer here? A screwed-up sicko like Hendrick isn’t going to let a little drive into the country stop him.”

  “Valid point.” He stood and paced the living room.

  Holly didn’t like that she had a valid point. She wanted him to say home was her sanctuary. That no one could harm her here. That all the world’s evils would die on her doorstep.

  That he’d be with her forever to make sure she was safe.

  Stop being so foolish. She stood and walked to the hallway. Pausing, she turned to face him. “I’m going to change. You think about what you want to teach me.”

  Without waiting for a response, Holly entered her bedroom. She peeled off her dress and slid into a pair of gray cotton shorts and a white T-shirt with a tie-dyed peace sign on it. For some stupid reason, that T-shirt always reminded her to relax. What had she done in asking Keane to teach her some defensive moves? Did she really want to learn them, or had the notion been a way of getting to spend time with him? Time touching him and having him touch her?

  She admitted it was little of both. Her practical side realized the need for protection. This Hendrick dude was bad news and closer than anybody in town had originally
thought. Her impractical side realized the need to be close to Keane. She wasn’t above a little manipulating to get near him.

  After donning socks and her running sneakers, she returned to the living room where Keane waited and had changed his clothes as well. He had replaced his jeans and black T-shirt with navy blue nylon sweatpants and a gray tank top, untucked. The view of his muscled shoulders, chest, and arms made her stop mid-stride. The snake tattoo that coiled around his left bicep was so black against his pale skin.

  She clamped down on the desire rising inside her. Pushed it back where it had spilled from and continued deeper into the living room where Keane had moved the coffee table, the couch, and the recliner out of the way. She noticed a stray potato chip on the hardwood floor where the couch had been and was glad to have something to take her mind off how absolutely dream-like he looked.

  “What a slob.” She bent to pick up the wayward chip.

  “You’re the furthest thing from a slob. Trust me. I’ve saved some real pigs when it came to housekeeping. This house is spotless.”

  Why did his compliment touch her so much? Was it because he was like a houseguest, and she wanted him to be comfortable? Was it because he had noticed her pride in her home? Was it because he wanted this to be his home?

  Shaking her head clear, she threw the chip away in the kitchen and when she turned around to walk to the living room, Keane rushed toward her. He pinned her against the wall beside the porch door. He didn’t hurt her, but she was good and trapped. He was so much taller than her, so much stronger.

  “I’m not trying to scare you,” he said, his arm pressing against her throat a bit, “but I want you to realize how easy it is for someone to surprise and overtake you.” He released her and took a step back.

  “Point taken.” She straightened her T-shirt and pushed a lose curl behind her ear.

  “Be more aware, more alert. All the time.” He walked into the living room motioning that she should follow him.

  “Got it. Aware. Alert. Always.”

  “Now I’m going to assume that someone like Hendrick will attack an adult from behind. He’s probably not a head-on kind of guy. That’s why he prefers to assault children. They’re easier to approach.”

  That comment made her stomach roll. The fact that Hendrick focused on kids made her all the more ready to fight him. Her students were hers, and she’d do anything to keep them safe.

  “Come here.” Keane held out his hand, and when Holly was in range, he turned her around so she faced away from him. He kept his hands on her shoulders for a moment, and she closed her eyes. She wanted to back up and wear him like a coat, a six-foot, three-inch coat of muscles and male.

  “Holly?”

  “Yes.” Her voice sounded breathy, needy.

  “Did you hear what I said to do?”

  She hadn’t, of course. Too busy daydreaming about things that could never be.

  “No. Sorry. What did you say?” She moved to turn around, but he held her in place with his hands still on her shoulders. The slight tightening of his grip caused quakes of arousal beneath her skin.

  “I said I’m going to grab you with an arm around your neck from behind. You want to pretend to send a sharp, powerful elbow into my ribs. Then, without waiting for me to straighten out, send that same elbow to the back of my neck. Pretend to, that is. We’ll do it in slow motion, okay?”

  She repeated back the steps he had said and nodded that she was ready.

  “I’ll try not to hurt you.” She peered at him over her shoulder with a grin.

  “I’d greatly appreciate that. I’ll try not to be inhumanly fast and give you a chance to actually practice the move.” Keane smiled here, and all the instructions he’d given her almost disappeared from her memory. “Ready?”

  Holly gave him a thumbs up and turned to face the kitchen again. Keane’s arm came around her neck catching her throat between his forearm and bicep. His flesh pressed against her pulse, and her heartbeat bounced against his skin. The more she thought about the contact, the more her pulse jumped. She felt his breath at her ear.

  “If it was someone besides me, Holly, you’d be dead already. C’mon.”

  She knew that. Of course, time was critical to delivering the move effectively, but damn, she didn’t want to fight him off.

  “Elbow to the ribs,” she said as she pantomimed the move in slow motion. Keane went down onto one knee and feigned having the wind knocked out of him. “Elbow to the neck.” She sliced her elbow down and connected lightly with his neck. Her gaze, however, wandered down the slope of his back to his butt resting on his bent leg. He stood before she had a chance to ogle him further.

  “Good. Let’s try it again, but be quicker. Any hesitation gives your opponent the upper hand.”

  Being attracted to your opponent probably would diminish the effectiveness as well. Holly sifted out a breath and ordered herself to focus on the lesson, not on the movement of Keane’s lips as he explained techniques. Not on the skilled precision of his body as he demonstrated what he wanted her to do. Not on the fact that she wanted him to rip her clothes off in a fit of passion.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Holly was a good student. She quickly picked up the form and rhythm of the demonstrated moves, but Keane had other things he wanted to teach her. Things that had nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with pleasure. As he caught her in different holds and explained how she could get out of them, he marveled over the graceful fluidity of her movements. Her body was lithe, strong, beautiful. He ached to see all of her.

  “This is like dancing.” Holly broke the hold he had on her left arm by twirling away from his body then twisting at the angle he’d shown her so he went down on one knee.

  “That’s a good way to think of it.” He looked up the length of her body and loved the way she smiled down at him. “It’ll help you keep the flow of the movements.”

  “What else you got?” She pulled her hair back into a low ponytail then rested her hands on her hips. Her lovely, perfectly curved hips.

  Keane looked away, silently berating himself for letting his thoughts wander so much. One look at her and he could swear all of his body functions had been kickstarted back into full swing.

  “I think you’ve got enough basics to make someone regret messing with you,” he said as he stood.

  She punched her fists into the air in front of her as if she were boxing, and he laughed. She closed her eyes and smiled.

  “I do love that sound, Keane,” she said.

  “What sound?” He slid the couch back into place to keep his hands busy.

  “Your laugh. It’s wonderful.” She rested her hand on his bare arm, and he turned around so quickly, Holly let out a little squeak.

  He backed her up against one of the living room walls as he had when showing her the defense moves only this time his lips feasted on hers. She matched his fervor with a deep, probing kiss that reached to the dark shadows inside of him. Lilacs filled his nose, and his hands grabbed at Holly’s. He wove his fingers between hers and pressed their joined hands to the wall behind her. If he could just hold her in place, in this moment, maybe he could have what he wanted most. Maybe he could have her.

  She made little noises deep in her throat that completely unglued his control. He couldn’t think of anything else but Holly. Nothing but smelling her lilac scent, touching her silk skin, tasting her fruity lips.

  Fruity? Keane broke the kiss and stared at Holly. Her lips were swollen by his aggressiveness, her eyes fiery with arousal, her cheeks pinked with passion.

  “Please, Keane. Don’t stop. Not now.” She reached her head forward trying to catch his lips again, but he released her hands and took a step back.

  “You taste like fruit,” he said.

  Holly licked her lips and that simple gesture made him want to dive back into kissing her.

  “I was wearing apple-flavored lip gloss, I think.” She crinkled her nose as if trying to remember if that ha
d indeed been the lip gloss she’d used today. After a moment, her eyes widened and she stepped away from the wall. “You can taste it?”

  Keane nodded. “First lilacs and now apples. Why? I don’t understand it.”

  “But you don’t smell or taste anything else besides those two?”

  “I haven’t smelled anything else, but I haven’t tried to taste other things.”

  Holly started for the kitchen indicating that he should follow. “Time for a little experiment.” She pulled a chocolate chip cookie from a package in one of the cupboards and held it out to him. He looked at it and shook his head. She stepped closer to him.

  “Don’t eat it. We don’t want another stomach disaster.” She patted his stomach. “Bite into it and see if you can taste it.”

  Keane raised a hand and took the cookie. Looking at Holly who offered him an encouraging nod, he bit off a section. Crumbs littered his tongue, his teeth did what they instinctively wanted to do, but he tasted nothing.

  She brought over the trashcan. “I can tell by your face you can’t taste it. Spit it out.” She pulled off the lid and held the can out to him.

  He took the can and turned away from Holly to rid himself of the mashed cookie. When he turned back around, she was ready with a napkin.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “Now we know it’s just lilacs you can smell and apples you can taste. The question is why lilacs and apples?” She returned the trashcan to its spot in the kitchen and led him back to the living room. She helped him situate all the furniture then pointed to the couch as she sat. “Theories?”

  “I think it’s you.” Keane risked a glance at Holly. Her brows lowered in confusion.

  “Me? What do I have to do with your senses?”

  Just that you arouse every single one of them.

  “I think it’s not so much that I can smell lilacs and taste apples, but more that I can smell and taste you,” he said.

  Holly puckered out her lips as she considered his hypothesis. “Okay, another experiment then. Be right back.” She bounced up from the couch and disappeared to her bedroom.