by Paige Tyler
It might have been his imagination, but he was sure he felt a shiver run through Rachel’s body as she moved there with him. Praying it wasn’t a shudder of revulsion but worried it might be, he pulled back a little to check. At first, she didn’t seem all that interested in peeling herself off his chest, but when she finally looked up at him, her eyes seemed a little unfocused.
“You okay?” he asked softly. “Was that too close?”
Rachel smiled up at him. “I’m good,” she said, her voice rough and husky and so damn sexy.
Knox slid his hand an inch or so lower on Rachel’s back and allowed himself to enjoy the moment as she snuggled close to him again.
He had no idea how long they danced. It must have been at least three or four slow songs. All he knew for sure was that his heart was thudding so hard he had no doubt Rachel heard every beat. Not that she seemed to mind. If anything, she seemed to be doing her best right then to wiggle herself farther into his arms. He was good with that.
And yeah, it was doing something for him. Best of all, Rachel didn’t seem to mind the thing poking her in the belly any more than she minded his thudding heart.
Knox barely realized it was happening until it was already happening. But when he felt warm soft lips on his, he figured out that Rachel had tilted her face up to his and was kissing him. And he was kissing her back.
“Addy’s gone!”
The sound of panic in Ben’s voice jerked Knox out of the moment, and he broke the kiss and sprang apart to see the kid standing beside them, looking freaked out.
“What do you mean, Addy is gone?” Knox asked.
Looking around the dance floor, he saw that Aaron and Addy were in fact gone. He wasn’t sure for how long, but it couldn’t have been more than a song or two.
“Are you sure they didn’t go to the restroom?” Rachel asked, while Knox was still trying to figure out how long he’d been mentally absent from the dance. Good thing one of them still had some working brain cells. His had disappeared as soon as her arms had wrapped around him, which was kind of scary when he thought about it.
Ben explained that the teen couple had been missing for at least five minutes, though that sounded like an exaggeration to Knox. Regardless, Ben had already checked the bathrooms, the steps out in front of the gym, and the dark areas behind the building, where the seniors liked to go to make out.
“I even checked the parking lot,” the kid added. “Aaron’s bike is still here.”
Ben was obviously very industrious and perhaps a bit jealous. Maybe more than a bit.
“Where’s the last place you saw Addy?” Rachel asked.
The kid led them over to the refreshment table, arms waving as he pointed out the place in line he’d seen Addy and Aaron a while ago, waiting to get some nachos. “They were right here. I swear!”
Rachel glanced left and right, her nose in the air, before she headed for the exit. She moved fast, too. Like she knew exactly where Addy and Aaron had gone. Which she probably did.
“Where’s she going?” Ben asked, almost stumbling over his feet to keep up.
Knox didn’t answer. Rachel was obviously tracking Addy’s scent, but it wasn’t like he could tell Ben that.
As they left the gym and hurried along one hallway after another, Knox did his best to find and track Addy’s scent. He could definitely pick up a lot of smells, but he couldn’t separate them into anything unique to a particular person. In fact, the only scent he was able to lock onto was Rachel’s.
Ben babbled nonstop the whole way, sure Aaron had already dragged Addy away somewhere to make out with him.
Knox cursed silently. Why the hell hadn’t he been paying attention to the girl he was supposed to be protecting? Oh, yeah. Because he’d been acting like a hormonal teen himself with Rachel.
While most of Rachel’s attention was focused on tracking Addy’s scent, Knox could tell Ben’s words were bothering her, too. Her shoulders were lifting and falling rapidly as she breathed hard, and he’d caught a hint of red glow in her eyes when she glanced over her shoulder at him. Crap, she was about to lose it.
Sprouting fangs and claws in front of the kids definitely wouldn’t be good.
When they finally stopped in front of a classroom on the other side of the building and Rachel shoved open the door with a snarl, Knox made sure he was the first one in the room, a hand on Rachel’s arm to hopefully keep her from doing anything she’d regret—like ripping Aaron into small, messy chunks of wannabe bad boy.
They found Addy and Aaron at the front of a science classroom, the girl pressed back against the whiteboard, eyes wide in fear as her boyfriend leaned into her personal space. Knox didn’t miss the fact that Addy’s pink lipstick was smudged.
He felt his gums and fingernails tingle as his inner wolf began salivating at the thought of tearing this punk apart. Then Rachel shoved his arm aside and charged forward, and he realized he probably wouldn’t get the chance.
Knox quickly got in front of Rachel, stopping her before she could get more than two steps. “I’ll take care of lover boy. You get Addy out of here.”
Rachel stared at him as if she wanted to argue, but then the red glow in her eyes disappeared. She looked at him in confusion for a fraction of a second before moving over to put her arm around Addy to lead her out of the room, glaring at Aaron as she went. Ben threw a pissed-off look at Aaron, then followed Rachel and his friend out of the room. Aaron made to follow, but Knox stopped him with a glower.
His fangs were doing their best to push their way out, a sure sign he was close to losing control. He forced himself to calm down, envisioning those peaceful forest scenes Rachel had described that night in her apartment.
It didn’t help that Aaron’s heart began thumping like a drum. Knox paused. Damn, he could actually hear the kid’s heartbeat. This was the first time something like that had happened to him.
“I…um…should get back to the dance,” Aaron stuttered.
“Not until we have a little talk,” Knox said.
The kid swallowed hard. “About what?”
Knox put his hand on the back of the kid’s neck and guided him toward the door. “Consent and what that word means.”
“Okay,” Aaron said nervously.
He steered the kid into the hallway and started back toward the gym. “Then we’ll talk about you finding a girlfriend your own age. And after that, we’ll discuss the way you’re going to treat women from this day forward for the rest of your life.”
* * *
Knox was almost at the gym when he heard Rachel and Addy talking just ahead of him. It sounded like they were having a serious conversation, so he stopped where he was in the darkened hallway around the corner to give them a chance to finish. He paced away a bit, but it didn’t matter. He could still hear them clear as a bell. He guessed his werewolf ears had finally decided to make a full-time appearance.
He and Aaron had talked for a good fifteen minutes, and Knox liked to think he’d gotten through to the kid—at least it seemed like the teen had been seriously considering what they’d talked about as they walked out to the parking lot. The kid had even given him a look that seemed appreciative as he’d started his small bike to head home.
“Did you really want those nachos, or was that an excuse to get rid of Ben?” he heard Addy ask.
Rachel laughed. “You got me. It was a ploy. I know you said you didn’t mind him being there as we talked about what happened with Aaron, but there’s something I wanted to say to you without Ben around to overhear.”
Addy sighed. “I already know what you’re going to say. Now that I’m never going to get within twenty feet of Aaron or anyone like him, you think I should give Ben a chance, right? That he’s always been there for me. Risking his life at the mall. Coming to look for me tonight? You think he could be someone I’d get along with better?”
Anoth
er musical laugh filled the air. “I was all set to give you this wonderful advice about giving him a shot, but it sounds like you already have all the answers.”
There was silence for a moment, then Addy spoke again. “If I had all the answers, I never would have been dumb enough to think that Aaron was the kind of guy I wanted to be with. But I’m ready to give Ben a chance if you do one thing for me.”
“What’s that?” Rachel asked, amusement filling her voice.
“If I’m going to give Ben a chance, you need to make a move on Knox. I saw the two of you out there on the dance floor, so don’t tell me there’s nothing between you guys because it’s obvious there is. You see it, right?”
Knox was stunned at how badly he wanted to hear Rachel’s answer. So badly in fact that he moved closer to hear the conversation. But then, just when it seemed like she was going to reply, he heard footsteps, then Ben announcing he’d gotten two trays of nachos with extra cheese. There was no chance of getting an answer to Addy’s question now.
He waited another few moments, then turned the corner, asking if they’d saved any chips for him.
Chapter 9
Rachel was still smiling when she walked into her apartment after dropping Addy off at home. Locking the door behind her, she headed straight for the bedroom, where she slipped out of her dress and kicked her heels into the corner of her closet. The little .380 double action pistol that had been tucked into the thigh holster nestled against her leg came off next, then finally her panties. She almost laughed as she tossed her underwear into the hamper. The evening hadn’t been anything like she’d expected it to be.
In a word, it had been ah-mazing.
While she was thrilled with how the night had ended for Addy and Ben—with the girl promising to talk to her friend soon about how she felt about him—it was spending time with Knox that had her almost…well, giddy was about the only word she could come up with to describe it. Normally her name and giddy would never exist in the same zip code, but what the hell? It fit now.
Yeah, she was a little bothered she’d lost time again, while trying to find Addy at the high school. That moment of hesitation when she’d asked Knox if he’d be interested in taking a job with STAT had her a bit concerned, too. And there was still the whole former-hunter thing of his to deal with. But she’d worry about all that later. Because seriously, when was the last time she’d been this excited about a man?
That would be never.
She padded barefoot into the bathroom, ignoring the oversize bath towel she’d draped over the mirror the other day. If she could have figured out how to do it, she’d yank it off the wall and throw it out. But since she couldn’t—not without forfeiting a chunk of her security deposit—the towel would have to do. Regardless, she didn’t plan to ever look in the damn thing again.
Rachel turned on the water in the shower, letting it heat up as she replayed the evening’s highlights. There were so many good moments she had a difficult time focusing on one or two things. Telling Knox about how she became a cop was one thing, but she still couldn’t believe she’d admitted she’d been in the science club. No one knew about that part of her life, not even the members of her pack.
She and Knox had fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, his hard body pressing against hers, making her feel like she was standing too close to a fire, his heat threatening to scorch her right through the dress she’d been wearing. And that kiss? She’d never experienced anything like that. If Ben hadn’t shown up when he had, they’d probably still be going at it. Unless they’d moved on to something else entirely. She laughed. That would have been one Valentine’s dance none of those kids ever forgot. Of course, she and Knox would probably be in jail right now.
It wasn’t until steam filled the bathroom that Rachel realized the water had gotten plenty hot while she’d been daydreaming about Knox. She reached in and adjusted the temperature, then stepped into the tub, groaning as the spray poured over her skin.
Squeezing shampoo in the palm of her hand, she began washing her hair. As the bubbles slid down her back, she let her mind run wild, imagining it was Knox’s hands gliding down her skin as the lather caught in the curve of her back just above her butt, tickling her there like his fingers had done earlier. Over and over, she replayed the kiss they’d shared, remembering how delicious he’d tasted and reveling in the knowledge that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to think there was something more than random attraction going on. But then she stopped herself, refusing to jinx whatever it was that was building between them.
Rachel was so wrapped up in her fantasies of Knox she didn’t notice the nasty stench filling the air until she almost gagged on the greasy, rotting smell assaulting her nose. It was like something had died in her apartment. Rinsing the shampoo out of her hair as quickly as she could, Rachel squeezed the excess water from her hair, then turned off the water and scrambled out of the shower. Hastily wrapping a towel around herself, she walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, half expecting to find some kind of dead creature lying on her couch.
But there was nothing on the couch or under it, or even shoved in a corner behind the TV. She attempted to follow the rancid smell to its source, but it faded away completely until she couldn’t smell it anymore. She spun around in a circle, confused, trying to find it again. But it was like the smell had never been there at all. That wasn’t possible. Odors that strong didn’t simply dissipate that quickly or neatly.
She glanced at the central air vents, wondering if maybe something horribly wounded had somehow gotten into the duct work and randomly dragged its rotting ass past her apartment. But she immediately dismissed that thought. There couldn’t be anything like that in the ducts. Not unless it was a zombie rat. Because nothing living could smell that awful.
Deciding the issue was going to remain a mystery, Rachel padded into the bathroom long enough to dry off and grab a fresh towel for her hair. Naked, she headed for the bedroom, toweling her long hair dry and telling herself to forget the phantom smell that had unsettled her so badly.
Rachel slipped into the XXL University of Tennessee T-shirt she sometimes slept in and headed for the kitchen. Taking her electric toothbrush from its recharging station beside the coffeemaker, she squeezed a generous amount of paste on it, then stuck it in her mouth and turned it on. It was a little embarrassing to keep her toothbrush in the kitchen, but she’d been afraid to brush her teeth in the bathroom since the episode with the mirror. The mere thought made her cringe.
Rachel was rinsing the toothpaste from her mouth when a cold breeze blew across her shoulders. It was immediately followed by the creepiest sensation she’d ever felt. She spun around, sure that someone was behind her.
But of course, no one was there. Even so, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing around the kitchen again, then the living room, to make sure. Her heart rate that had kicked into overdrive seconds ago slowly started to come back down.
Telling herself to stop being such a fraidycat, she rinsed her mouth again, then put the glass in the dishwasher. She turned to head to bed when she caught her reflection in the dark glass of the cabinet-mounted microwave.
Only it wasn’t her reflection.
Rachel stumbled back with a yelp, her butt colliding with the kitchen table as she stared back at the clown from her nightmares. Even in the dull glass of the microwave, it was impossible to miss the white paint covering his face, the permanent smile, and the glowing, red gaze.
She closed her eyes, sure the mirage would go away when she opened them again. But it didn’t, and she nearly fell on her ass when the face in the glass turned to continue regarding her as she moved slightly to the side. She got her bare feet under her only to lose them completely when the deep chuckle rumbled around the kitchen.
The last time she’d heard that laugh was over a year ago in a courtroom in Chattanooga
.
Rachel knew she was hyperventilating, but she couldn’t stop.
This isn’t real.
The clown isn’t here.
Another chuckle echoed in her apartment, coming from every direction at once. “Oh yes, dear Rachel, this is very real and I’m most definitely here. As for losing your mind, you are indeed going insane. Of that, you can be quite sure.”
The voice was so calm yet so evil it made her skin crawl. And it was so close she swore she could feel the clown’s warm breath on her neck.
Rachel looked around wildly, trying to locate the creature who’d tried to kill her. To her horror, she found his face in every reflective surface—the toaster, the coffeepot, even the stainless refrigerator and dishwasher.
The clown’s lips pulled back in a sham of a grin, his eyes full of amusement as they bore into hers. He was stalking her. Toying with her.
She retreated, putting her back to the wall, shoving her kitchen table aside to make room. Even though she was still gasping for breath, her heart thundering in her ears, self-preservation instincts demanded she protect herself, but both the .380 and the larger .45 were in her bedroom. The thought of turning her back on the faces all around her was too terrifying to consider.
So, she did the only thing she could think of. She lunged forward to grab the biggest knife in the block on the counter. The move forced her to come within inches of one of the reflections of the clown, and it snapped its teeth together with a resounding clash that made her skitter back across the kitchen.
The thing laughed again, so loud this time she could feel it in her bones. She wanted to resist, to fight, but the sound was so disturbing she thought her very bones might shatter like glass falling victim to a high-pitched scream.
Gripping the knife, she slid down the wall to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears with her forearms. It didn’t help. The laughter continued to cut through her soul, even as the horrible stench of death and rot returned, pushing her mind to the brink.