A Touch of the Beast

by Linda Winstead Jones

  He didn’t have to worry that Agnes might’ve left something of importance in the clinic once it was closed. She’d been been much too smart for that. Still he wondered. What if something had been inadvertently left behind? What if someone else stumbled across the information he’d struggled for years to gather and understand?

  Letting it slip through his fingers would be a mistake.

  Before he reached his hotel room, Benedict flipped open his cell phone and dialed the number from memory. Janet answered with a sleepy, “Hello.”

  “Hello, darling. What are you doing?”

  “Sleeping,” she said, succinctly but with a hint of a slur. “It’s…it’s three-thirty in the morning, Ben.”

  “I’m going on a little trip, and I might have need of your services at a moment’s notice.” He had to be very careful about what he said over a cell phone. No alarming words could be used. “Bring the RV.”

  “When?” Janet’s voice was now much more alert.

  “Now.”

  He heard her moving about as if she were stretching those lovely long limbs of hers. He could almost see her sitting up, running her fingers through her hair, licking her lips. Oddly enough, he had missed her.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, fully alert.

  “Wyatt, North Carolina.”

  Sheryl woke to a normal morning. The sun was barely over the horizon, and already Laverne and the other cats were meowing at her to get up. Howie paced by the bed, and Bogie jumped up and settled on the comforter between her and Donovan.

  Donovan had the worst of it. Baby was bigger than her dogs, and she was presently licking her master’s stubbled cheek with slobbering enthusiasm.

  What had seemed so right last night seemed a little embarrassing by the light of day. It was unlike her to lose control. She suspected it was unlike Donovan, too.

  “Good morning,” he rumbled.

  Sheryl wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or to Baby, but she answered anyway. “Good morning.”

  He rolled toward her, looking deliciously rumpled and not quite awake. “Get enough sleep?”

  “Nope,” she said with a smile. “You?”

  “It’ll do.”

  He was softer in the morning, not yet so very much on guard. A few bricks were missing from that wall he’d built around himself. If they had the time she could take that wall down. One brick at a time. But of course they didn’t have the time, so there was no point in wishing otherwise.

  She couldn’t think about tomorrow, his protective walls or hers, what her mother would think, whether her sister and brothers would get along with him…. None of that mattered. Donovan was hers only for a short time, but he was truly hers. No one else came into the mix.

  She liked him this way. A little softer, a little rougher, a little more hers. But she suspected it wouldn’t last.

  She reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder. Not caressing, not pulling toward or pushing away. Just touching. “What are your plans for today?”

  “I’ll finish moving the files from the attic into the spare room, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind.”

  “And I might make a trip to the drugstore.” He touched her, too, brushing the backs of his fingers across her shoulder.

  “Good idea.” He’d just had the two condoms in his wallet, and since she’d given up sex when she’d given up Michael, she had absolutely nothing in her house that even remotely resembled birth control.

  He moved in with a perfectly wicked grin on his beautiful face. “Do you take a break for lunch?”

  “Don’t kiss me!” She laughed out loud and tossed her head back. “You have Baby slobber all over your face.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t sound at all offended. And then he took a nipple in his mouth and drew it deep, and her body responded as if he were touching her for the first time. She closed her eyes and let the sensations wash through her body from head to toe. Oh, how did he know just where to touch her, just how soft, just how hard? Somehow he knew. What a wonderful way to wake up.

  But they weren’t alone. Baby jumped on the bed to join the others, and Howie, who was too short to make the jump, started to howl because he was the only one in the room not on the bed. Sheryl laughed, and so did Donovan, who managed to shoo all the animals out of the room with a single word and a wave of his hand.

  Sheryl sat up. Alone or not, they were out of condoms and she could not stay in this bed with Donovan and not touch him. “About that lunch break,” she said as she left the bed, glancing over her shoulder. “Twelve o’clock sharp. Be there.”

  Chapter 8

  It made a difference, working in the spare room rather than the attic. The air was fresher here, a bit cooler, the space was more open. Hawk didn’t feel as if the walls were closing in on him down here. Arranging the files he’d set aside as potentially important actually made him feel as if he might be making progress.

  Last night he’d set his job aside to hold Sheryl for a while. He’d forgotten why he was here and had sex. Lots of sex. Good sex. Mind-blowing, where-have-you-been-all-my-life sex. And then he’d slept. He hadn’t slept that deeply in so long he couldn’t even remember when it might’ve been.

  But today he was focused once again, back to work without the distraction of wondering how Sheryl’s bare skin would feel against his.

  He called Cassie on the cell phone. She said she was doing fine, but he could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn’t telling everything. Maybe she’d had another seizure and didn’t want him to worry. When he’d tried to press her about the issue, she turned the tables on him, telling him that he sounded different and asking him what he’d been up to.

  His denial wasn’t accepted any more readily than hers had been. Cassie knew him too well, but she also knew not to push for answers. She’d learned a long time ago that pushing her brother never got her anywhere.

  Shortly after eleven o’clock, Hawk headed for town with Baby trailing along behind him. They walked, rather than taking the truck, since the shops he planned to visit were so close and the day was beautiful, with clear blue skies, an autumn breeze and a warm sun.

  In the main square Hawk did his shopping. Condoms, a black marker, clear tape and a small sheet of poster board were purchased from a sour old woman at the drugstore. He bought flowers from a small corner stall, and sandwiches and cold drinks from a narrow café located between the barber shop and a dress store.

  A block before he reached the veterinary clinic, Hawk stopped. He placed his bags on the ground and searched for the poster board and marker amongst the rest of the purchases. He fashioned a quick sign in a bold, sweeping hand: Back in Thirty Minutes.

  When he resumed his walk, he glanced down at Baby, who had, as usual, behaved well all morning. She’d waited outside each shop without a peep, knowing that she wasn’t welcome everywhere. Too bad. He’d rather spend his time with Baby than any of the people he’d dealt with today.

  “You want to go back to the house?” He could see Baby’s thoughts, and at the moment they included the desire for a nap on Sheryl’s breezy front porch. Baby didn’t care for vet clinics, not even to visit. “Go on, then,” he said, giving his permission. “I’ll be there later.”

  Baby took off at a run. Hawk watched as the dog ran toward Sheryl’s, her feet flying down the center of the sidewalk, her attention focused on her goal. She wouldn’t roam anywhere else, wouldn’t be distracted by a squirrel or a stray mutt.

  Hawk entered the clinic without his usual sidekick. For the past couple of years, Baby had been with him almost constantly. It felt odd to be standing here without her.

  A client who did his best to control an uncontrollable black lab at the end of a leash tried to write out a check while Sheryl stood behind the counter and wrote up a receipt. She lifted her head and smiled at Hawk, not at all surprised to see him here twenty minutes early.

  She looked different today, happier than she’d been when he’d first
walked into this clinic. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled. How could any man look at her and not feel as if he’d just been punched in the gut?

  When the customer and the black lab left, Sheryl came around the counter. Her eyes changed. They were slightly hooded now, and the blue seemed deeper than before. Even though Hawk knew this was temporary, deep down he didn’t want her to ever look at another man this way.

  “Anyone else here?” he asked.

  “Nope. I don’t have another appointment until one-thirty, and Cory won’t be in until after three.”

  “Good.” He handed her the flowers first, and she took them with a widening of her easy smile and a quick kiss as thanks.

  He handed over the sandwiches and drinks, which were bulky. She took their lunch and placed it on the counter.

  “What’s in that sack?” she asked, pointing to the plastic bag that had Wyatt Pharmacy written on the side.

  Hawk opened the top of the bag and let her look inside. She spotted the box of condoms first, and her eyes widened. It was a big box, that was true, but as far as Hawk was concerned, better safe than sorry.

  Sheryl drew out the sign and smiled as she read it, then reached for the pen and turned to the counter. She scribbled something on the poster and then turned around to present it to him. She’d marked through some of his work and added a few words of her own.

  Instead of Back in Thirty Minutes, it now read Back in One Hour.

  He put the sign in the curtained window and flipped the lock on the door, holding in his mind the vision of the sparkle in Sheryl’s eyes and the unwavering strength of her smile. They would terrify him, if he thought this affair would last more than a few days.

  “I’ve never had sex in my office before.” Sheryl wrapped her arms around Donovan’s neck as he pulled her closer to him.

  “Good,” he answered.

  She sat on her desk, half-dressed and already dancing on the edge. Literally and figuratively. Donovan was still fully dressed, but that wouldn’t last long. Not if she had her way.

  If she thought about it—and she had thought about it all morning—she knew this had happened too fast. But she also knew they didn’t have time to waste, and she didn’t want to let Donovan slip through her fingers. He was special, in a way she could not explain. Handsome, yes, but not the only handsome man she’d ever seen. Intriguing, yes, but she didn’t look for mystery in a man. She looked for answers. She looked for absolutes. She had sworn that she’d never allow another man to touch her until she knew him to the core. Surprises were the last thing she needed or wanted, and Hawk Donovan was one surprise after another.

  Maybe she should stop thinking and accept that this was physical perfection. Nothing else mattered. Not today.

  He lowered his mouth to her neck and sucked there, and she tilted her head to one side to offer him full, unobstructed access. The touch of his lips sent lightning through her body. Just that touch, his mouth on her throat, made her clench and shiver. She closed her eyes and just allowed herself to feel. She felt good, through and through. She felt alive. When Donovan cupped her breast, she shuddered and pressed that breast more firmly into his palm.

  She untucked his shirt and skated one hand against his hard belly. She wanted to touch him; she wanted the sensation of his skin against her palm.

  Donovan spread her thighs and skimmed his fingers over the soft skin there. His hands were large and weathered, rough and callused, and yet he could be so tender. It seemed that he knew just where to touch her, just how hard, just how soft. A thumb stroked up her inner thigh and back down again, teasing her, coming close to where she was wet for him and then slowly moving away.

  And then he didn’t move away. His fingers fluttered over her intimately, and she responded. She wanted him already. She wanted him now. How was that possible, after last night? She’d gone two years without a man in her bed, and now she couldn’t stand to be without Donovan for twelve hours?

  The caress grew gradually firmer, more certain, more demanding. No, twelve hours was much too long.

  She reached down and stroked his denim-covered erection. Long, thick and hard, he filled her hand. Maybe she did want him to distraction, but he wanted her just as badly. When she reached for his belt buckle, he stopped her with a stilling hand on her wrist.

  “Not yet.”

  “Yes,” she insisted.

  He smiled at her, and she was reminded that he didn’t smile nearly often enough. The smile transformed his face. There was still mystery in his gypsy eyes, but there was also joy. Life. A thousand unspoken promises.

  “We have an hour, Sheryl. Trust me.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Trust me,” he whispered, and then he kissed her and pressed forward, so that she was forced gently but unerringly backward. He removed her blouse, knocking a short stack of papers to the floor in the process. She didn’t care. It was nice to know that he could tremble, too, that he could lose control. He kissed her mouth, her throat, her breasts, and while he kissed her his hands caressed her inner thighs and again brushed against her intimately.

  She closed her eyes and let herself drown in sensation. Maybe there was a desk beneath her. Then again, maybe she was flying. Maybe her body had changed in a way so dramatic it was no longer earthbound. She didn’t think about anything but the way Donovan made her feel…and then she began to think about the way he would make her feel when he pushed inside her. Just thinking of what was to come made her tremble.

  Donovan spread her legs wide, lifted her hips slightly, and listed in to flutter his tongue. And she knew she was flying. He loved her that way, with his lips and his hands and his tongue, until she shattered, crying out and arching up off the table while the intense orgasm shook her body and then faded away, leaving her trembling and depleted.

  Smiling and lethargic, Donovan crept up over her body like a cat. She was practically panting, and he was as serene as she had ever seen him. She was about to come out of her skin, and he looked as if he had all the time in the world. He laid one hand over her breast and very slowly lifted that hand, allowing the fingertips to brush against her skin until they came together at the nipple, where he tweaked gently.

  Sheryl quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it away, her hands on his chest and his arms, her breath almost returning. Almost. Her elbow moved and another sheaf of papers fell to the floor. She didn’t care.

  “What have you done to me?” she whispered as she reached down to unfasten his jeans. Her hands shook.

  He didn’t answer.

  “I’ve never felt like this before, Donovan.”

  “Hawk,” he said. “My name is Hawk.”

  “Hawk,” she whispered. His given name sounded so intimate. So personal. It was a name she would call in the night, after he was gone. The name of a man she would miss…

  But not today. And there was only today. No yesterday, no tomorrow. And she could not afford to think with her heart. Only with her body. She couldn’t worry about the empty nights to come. She had to focus on the fact that Hawk was here now…and he wanted her. And even though her body still trembled from the orgasm she’d just had, even though her knees shook so that she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand if she had to, she wanted him, too.

  She reached for the box of condoms they had wisely opened earlier, and which had not been knocked to the floor. Yet.

  “You’re wearing too many clothes,” she said as she reached into the box and snagged one foil-wrapped condom. “Take them off.”

  With nightfall and the extra traffic attributed to the start of the festival, Anthony had no trouble sneaking back into town. According to the file he’d stolen, there had once been a major experimental lab where the Eldanis Veterinary Clinic was located. A quick search of the premises had revealed nothing, but he wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.

  It didn’t make sense that Eldanis herself was involved. She was too young to have any connection with that long-ago past. Her occupation of the building
was probably just chance. Bad luck on her part, but one woman’s bad luck wasn’t his concern.

  Dressed in black and standing very still, he waited in shadows across the street from the Eldanis woman’s house. There were lots of lights on, but one by one the lamps were being extinguished. Too early for bedtime. Maybe she was going out.

  Inside the house one front room remained well lit. The porch light came on and the door opened. Good. She was going out. Not that he expected to find anything in her house, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a look around. Eldanis, smiling widely and wearing a pretty blue dress with a long floaty skirt, stepped onto the porch. So did a man, who kept one hand on her in a proprietary way.

  A shiver ran down Anthony’s spine as he studied the man. His face, well lit by the porch light, was not familiar. And yet…it was familiar, in a bone-deep way.

  The barking of dogs chased away the eerie feeling. Damn. He hated dogs! Noisy creatures, always popping up where they were least wanted. And it sounded as if Eldanis had more than one. More than two. The dogs and the kids who kept running in and out of the house next door would keep Anthony from searching her house. Tonight, anyway. If he felt he needed to come back here, he’d find a way.

  The almost-familiar man turned around and said a word or two, and the barking stopped. Then he closed the door and looked down at Eldanis.

  Sucker. The man was obviously falling hard and fast.

  Anthony didn’t move as the couple left the porch and headed for the sidewalk. When they reached the sidewalk, the man turned his head in Anthony’s direction. Anthony didn’t move, and he was certain he could not be seen in this position, but it was as if the man stared right at him. Right freakin’ through him.

  And then the woman took his hand, and they headed for town. Walking slowly on this fine autumn night, hand in hand and hopelessly moony.